“Bahrain\u2019s leadership surely considered many reasons before joining in on the US-led effort to improve Israel\u2019s ties with its Arab neighbors, but two key ones stick out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, regional politics in the Middle East have changed dramatically in recent years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once served as a major axis around which Middle East politics rotated, with nearly every country in the region, from Iran to Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, aligned with the Palestinians against Israel, that\u2019s now changed<\/a>. What animates the foreign policies of Middle Eastern countries these days is the Arab-Israel standoff with Iran \u2014 which some have dubbed a \u201ccold war<\/a>.\u201d … But Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s leading Middle East peace negotiator, has also turned Bahrain into a central player in his efforts. In June 2019, Kushner hosted his \u201cPeace to Prosperity\u201d workshop<\/a> \u2014 meant to get ideas ahead of unveiling his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan \u2014 in Bahrain. When looking for a country to follow the UAE in normalizing relations with Israel, it was likely he and his team would turn to Bahrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0The question now is if more countries \u2014 like\u00a0Oman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sudan<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 will follow suit. If so, it may prove the Trump administration\u2019s Middle East strategy has had some success, and prove dire for Palestinian hopes of having any real power in future negotiations with Jerusalem.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Iran has increased its efforts to establish itself as the regional hegemon, including by developing a robust nuclear program (but, so far at least, not an actual nuclear weapon), rival Gulf countries have found their security interests far more closely aligned with Israel.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Second, Bahrain and the US have a close relationship, especially during the Trump administration. The US Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet<\/a> is based in the small kingdom, and so they each have military and economic reasons to remain friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n