Bahrain public still in dark on Bennett visit

While Israeli and international press are reporting on Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s trip to Bahrain, the first for an Israeli premier, the small kingdom’s tightly controlled press is silent on the visit.

Bennett’s flight was initially embargoed from the press until close to his scheduled landing later in the evening, but the press in Israel was later given the go-ahead to write about it just before his plane was scheduled to depart.

There is no mention of Bennett’s visit by Bahrain’s official BNA news agency, nor any official statements on the visit yet.

A recent visit by Defense Minister Benny Gantz to Bahrain was also shadowed by secrecy in the lead-up to it. For security reasons, Gantz’s landmark trip was kept secret until he landed in Manama, and details of his schedule in the island kingdom were similarly not immediately permitted for publication.

Gantz’s flight to Bahrain traversed Saudi airspace, in what was seen a signal of regional cooperation. It is not clear if Bennett’s will do the same.

During the trip, Gantz hailed the country’s rulers for “the courageous decision to hold the visit publicly.”

“This decision to go openly is a significant decision. It is a step that has been ripening for a long time. There have been relationships between the [two countries’] defense establishments for many years, and it is a historic moment to make them official, formal and public,” Gantz said.