Amid ongoing controversy over the US decision to move its embassy to Beit-ul-Moqaddas, a Bahraini delegation has arrived in Israel to “send a message of peace”, according to media reports.
A report in the Times of Israel on Sunday said the visit indicated a warming of ties between the two countries, which do not maintain diplomatic relations, Al Jazeera reported.
Comprising two dozen members of a group called ‘This Is Bahrain’, the delegation will stay in Israel for four days to “send a message of religious tolerance and coexistence”, according to the Times.
Bahraini officials have previously suggested that stronger ties between Israel and Bahrain could benefit both countries in confronting their mutual rival, Iran.
Documents released by WikiLeaks in 2011 highlighted Bahrain’s contacts with Israel “at the intelligence/security level” and indicated that the tine Persian Gulf kingdom was “willing to move forward in other areas”.
The visit of the Bahraini delegation comes as protests continue to rage in the occupied Palestinian territories and around the world over a decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Beit-ul-Moqaddas as the capital of Israel.
Makkah, Madinah Imams Silent
Meanwhile, state-appointed Saudi imams of the Grand Mosques in Makkah and Madinah did not mention the situation in Beit-ul-Moqaddas during their Friday sermons, Middle East Monitor reported.
Al-Aqsa Mosque in Beit-ul-Moqaddas is regarded as the holiest place in Islam after the two Grand Mosques.
Although he did point out that the kingdom “reiterated the legal rights of the blessed Palestinian people” and hailed King Salman and other Muslim leaders for seeking the best for Islam and Muslims, well-known Shaikh Maher Mu’eqili did not mention the issue of Beit-ul-Moqaddas in his Makkah sermon.
Shaikh Abdullah Al-Bu’ejan, who delivered the Friday speech in The Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, did not mention the issue at all. Instead, he discussed God’s miracles in the change of the seasons throughout the year.
In the wake of Trump’s decision about Beit-ul-Moqaddas, the Saudi royal court ordered the local media not to give the issue wide coverage, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported. The Saudi and Bahraini embassies in Amman also called on their citizens living in Jordan not to take part in the demonstrations organized to protest against the US move.
In a related development, Arab foreign ministers on Sunday demanded that the United States rescind Trump’s decision to recognize Beit-ul-Moqaddas as Israel’s capital, calling it a “grave” development that puts Washington on the same side as “occupation” and the violation of international law.
