MANAMA: An Israeli delegation accompanied by the US treasury secretary arrived in Bahrain yesterday to formalize nascent relations and broaden Gulf cooperation that Washington has promoted as an anti-Iran bulwark and potential economic bonanza. Bahrain followed the United Arab Emirates in agreeing last month to normalize ties with Israel, stunning Palestinians who had demanded statehood before any such regional rapprochement.

The breakthrough, overseen by US President Donald Trump, is a foreign policy flourish ahead of his re-election bid next month. For the US allies, it is a chance to close ranks on Iran more overtly. The Israeli delegation, which flew on an El Al Israel Airlines charter flight from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, was accompanied by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in public remarks to his cabinet, said the delegations would work on cooperation agreements and "establishing the peace treaty". Israel and Bahrain signed a "Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations" at a White House ceremony on Sept 15, a document that fell short of a formal treaty.

At a ceremony with Mnuchin before take-off, US Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz said that Israel and Bahrain would sign a joint communique "bringing forward tourism and banking and diplomatic relations". The two sides will be free to open embassies in each other's countries, Berkowitz said, adding that an Israeli embassy in Manama could open within months. "I think the opportunity is way beyond just investments," Mnuchin told reporters on the El Al flight. "It's in technology, building various different businesses - and in the case of Bahrain as well, really expanding the opportunities for them quite, quite, quite dramatically."

Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, speaking in Arabic at an arrival ceremony at Manama airport, said: "This is a great day … We look forward, God willing, to hosting you in Israel soon." Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani described the engagement and cooperation as "the most effective, the most sustainable means to bring about a genuine and lasting peace, one which safeguards the rights of the Middle East peoples."

Houda Nounoo, a Bahraini diplomat, told reporters the Gulf state planned to formally reopen Manama's old synagogue, which has a Jewish community of 34 people, for the Purim festival on Feb. 25. The signing of the declaration, however, drew anger among Bahrainis at home and abroad. The government of Bahrain has said the deal protects its interests from Iran. Bahrain, unlike the UAE, has a history of open politics and civil society movements, although rights have been curtailed in the past decade.

El Al Flight 973, a nod to Bahrain's telephone code, flew over Saudi Arabia, an accommodation by the Gulf's powerhouse, which has so far resisted US appeals to normalize ties with Israel. Mnuchin and the other US officials travel today to the UAE, where the accord with Israel has uncorked bilateral commerce. Tomorrow, the US dignitaries will join the UAE's first delegation to Israel.

Israel and the UAE will sign a deal tomorrow to allow 28 weekly commercial flights between Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Israel's Transportation Ministry said yesterday. Though less oil-rich than the UAE, Bahrain - host to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet - has geostrategic significance. A Sept 13 report by Israel's Intelligence Ministry saw potential for defense cooperation with Bahrain, describing it as threatened by "Shiite political sedition, directed by Iran and its proxies".

A Bahraini source said a priority for Manama would be cybersecurity cooperation, after a decree issued by the king last week to set up a National Cybersecurity Centre, and tapping Israel's ecosystem for business startups. - Agencies