Israeli Project Wants Bahrain Another Palestine

Alwaght- While the Israeli regime has intensified its crimes in the West Bank and Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and even Western rights groups began to break their silence, comprising Arab regimes are turning a blind eye to its atrocities as they are involved in a normalization process with Tel Aviv. 

To advance the process, the Israeli President Issac Herzog announced a plan to visit Bahrain in an official trip to the tiny Arab kingdom. He said that he would meet the Bahraini ruler Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa to explore ways to expand bilateral relations. The visit comes two years after the two sides gave publicity to their secret relations under normalization deal. During this time, the Bahraini leaders have boosted their relations with the Israeli regime faster than other normalizing monarchies, specifically in security. In mid-February Neftali Bennett, then prime minister, visited Manama. 

The Al-Khalifa rulers have stolen the lead from other Arab countries that have secret relations with the Israeli regime in order to gain the greatest possible benefits in the economic, technological, political, and security fields. In fact, obtaining financial support was one of the main motivations of the Bahraini government in return to surrendering to the pressures of the US and Saudi Arabia for thaw. Bahrain's economic challenges in 2020 due to the sharp drop in global oil prices, the outbreak of the coronavirus and the inefficiency of the government in curbing the economic crisis had caused Manama to count on the economic promises of the US, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and the Israeli regime. Despite the fact that two years have passed since the signing of the normalization agreement and the frequent visits of officials and delegations from both sides, there is no visible effect of the fruitful results of this treasonous and costly action on the Bahrain's economic situation and the regional position of the Bahraini government— something indicating the Al-Khalifa leaders' wrong strategy. 

Tying its shaky throne to the supports of the US for decades and of Israeli regime in recent years, Al Khalifa believed that by bringing the Israelis to the country, it can solve its economic problems within a short time using Israel expertise and experience. But no result came out of the agreement in practice. After all, these relationship is designed to unilateraly serve the Israeli interests to pave the way for Israeli entry to the Persian Gulf region, a goal Tel Aviv realized, while the empty-handed Al Khalifa is left to live in disgrace in the Arab public eyes. 

Efforts to Judaize Bahrain 

The deeper the Israeli-Bahraini relations grow, the tighter would be the US-green-lighted crackdown by Manama regime to silence the opposition voices. But the public anger shows no signs of calm. The reactions of the people and civil groups of Bahrain against the visit of the Israeli officials to their country in the past two years showed that Bahrainis have an approach separate from their rulers in dealing with the Israeli occupation. 

Although Al-Khalifa authorities have not gained any benefit from establishing relations with the Israeli regime, and it does not even occur to them to define goals for themselves in the occupied territories, Israelis, unlike the Arabs, pursue grandiose policies by getting close to the sheikhdoms. 

Recently, Sheikh Isa Qassem, the top Bahraini Shiite cleric, in a statement warned against the Judaization of Bahrain and asked the Bahrainis to be vigilant against the Israeli conspiracy, which is being started with buying lands. Sheikh Issa Qassem said that foundation of a Jewish neighborhood in Manama means "distorting the history of the homeland and erasing the documents and evidence of the original citizens", as well as opening the doors to Israeli occupation with the complicity of Bahraini leaders. 

The warning by the Bahraini religious leader comes as the Al Khalifa founded the 'Society of Jewish Minority in Persian Gulf' to win the favor of the Israelis. This is the first Jewish organization in the country. Expansion of the Jewish communities in the Persian Gulf states is the main objective behind its foundation. The stealth influence in the Muslim countries is a policy the Israelis followed  a century ago in Palestine and imitated with sending Jews to Palestine and buying part of lands as a prelude to occupation. They are planing to adopt the same policy in other Arab countries, and Bahrain and the UAE are the gates to the Israeli entry to the Persian Gulf. 

Entrusting Al Khalifa security to nothing 

The Al Khalifa services to the Israelis comes while it deprives the Shiites, who make the majority in the country, of performing their religious and cultural rituals and cermonies. On the opposite side, the Jews enjoy all the freedoms they need and hold their rituals without any disruption. 

The heavy suppression of Shiites has now become an important goal of the Al-Khalifa regime's security cooperation with the Israelis, so that Tel Aviv props up the shaky Bahraini throne. In the last two years, and mainly after the start of the normalization process, the repressive policy against the Shiite protesters and their leaders was stepped up. 

Over the past two decades, the Bahraini government accepted many migrants from other countries and granted citizenship to them in a bid to change the nation's demographic map and reduce the Shiite community to a minority. This policy also allows the Israelis to migrate to Bahrain and receive Bahraini citizenship. Israeli leaders specially count on this policy and hope Bahrain be another Palestine. However, engaging in Israeli regional plots to deal a blow to the Axis of Resistance bears nothing but failure to Bahraini rulers.