After treaty with Israel, Bahrain wants to make friends with US Jews

• Author: BEN SALES/JTA
• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Except he didn't say "Saturday." He said "Shabbat."

Likewise, the undersecretary, Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, told a story to the group about encouraging an Israeli official to wear his kippah at a conference in Manama, Bahrain's capital, last year. And he chuckled about going diving this year with the director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry in an Israeli town close to the Lebanese border, just miles away from territory controlled by the terror group Hezbollah.

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It was all part of a two-day trip meant to meet, connect with and charm leaders of the American Jewish community in New York City. The trip came against the backdrop of Bahrain's normalization agreement last year with Israel, called the Abraham Accords, which also established full relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Al Khalifa also made a direct pitch to American Jews: He wants them to invest money in Bahrain and travel to the country as tourists. In addition — following criticism of Bahrain's human rights record and authoritarian government — he wants American Jews to spread the message of, in his words, "the values of coexistence and acceptance and tolerance that Bahrain has been upholding for so long."

"Every one of you has influence over your Jewish communities — encouraging them to visit Bahrain, encouraging them to have investments in Bahrain, to get to know Bahrain," he told the rabbis.

"When the Abraham Accords were signed, all of a sudden, there was a spike in the attacks against Bahrain, mainly in the human rights arenas, from European institutions who for some reason believed that they are responsible for the wellbeing of Bahrainis. So focusing on that would very much support Bahrain."

Al Khalifa began his trip on Monday by speaking with leaders of New York's UJA-Federation. He then met the rabbis, and afterward headed to Yeshiva University to meet students and faculty. Later on Monday, he was scheduled to meet privately with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who was in New York.

The next day, he met with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and with a group his aide described as Jewish business leaders.

"The main vision was to build bridges of peace and prosperity not only with Israel and Bahrain but also with the Jewish community," he said in an interview Monday with the Jewish...