Senior Bahraini diplomat says Mossad active in his country, boosting security
Speaking at Munich confab alongside Benny Gantz, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa says spy agency’s presence in Gulf kingdom is part of
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A senior Bahraini diplomat on Sunday said Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency is active in his country.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, an undersecretary at Bahrain’s ministry of foreign affairs, made the comment during a discussion at the Munich Security Conference alongside Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
“There is intelligence cooperation between Bahrain and Israel. Mossad is in Bahrain and they’re present in the region,” he said.
“If this security cooperation between Bahrain and Israel would mean providing more stability and security, so be it, if it would mean saving the lives of innocent civilians,” he added.
Khalifa noted that visits by Mossad chiefs have been reported by Bahrain’s official news agency.
“The head of Mossad was received by his counterpart in Bahrain, so we do believe security cooperation, intelligence cooperation is part of our ongoing partnership between Bahrain and Israel and will continue,” he said.
The session during which Khalifa spoke was called “Abraham Accords and Peace Options,” according to Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry.
בכיר בחרייני: המוסד הישראלי נמצא בבחריין @BarakRavid pic.twitter.com/dRi27tzZJR
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Khalifa’s comments came following Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to Bahrain last week, the first official visit by an Israeli premier to the Gulf kingdom, during which he met with several Bahrain officials as well as with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
Earlier this month, Gantz signed a memorandum of understanding with his Bahraini counterpart while visiting the Gulf country. According to Gantz’s office, the memorandum of understanding “will help advance intelligence cooperation, a framework for exercises, and cooperation between the countries’ defense industries.”
Israel and Bahrain established full diplomatic relations in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic deals between Israel and four Arab countries — including the UAE, Sudan and Morocco.
The Times of Israel Community.