By COLlive reporter
President Donald Trump‘s announcement that Israel and the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain have reached a peace agreement has been labeled as a historic breakthrough.
The New York Times reported that Israel and the Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf had been quietly cultivating ties for years, united by their common antipathy toward Iran.
One person heavily involved in cementing the connection is Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Head Shliach of Washington, DC, and the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad).
Rabbi Shemtov, the JTA reported last week, “helped advance relations between the countries in the mid-2000s by bringing together Bahraini and Israeli officials, including ambassadors to Washington, the foreign minister, and the king, at events, privately and then in public.”
An example is Houda Nonoo, the Arab world’s first Jewish envoy who served as Bahrain’s Ambassador to the U.S. from 2008 to 2013. During her tenure, she attended services at The Shul of the Nation’s Capital led by Rabbi Shemtov.
In 2008, COLlive.com reported that Rabbi Shemtov personally met with the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. When Rabbi Shemtov recited the Jewish blessing reserved for rulers, the king stood up to receive it and then extended an invitation to visit his gulf state, stating that “Jews are welcome” there.
Another milestone event that was at first held under the wraps was the reception for Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa held at the Lubavitcher Center in Washington, DC in 2010.
“People must understand that Israel has a historical presence in the region of the Middle East, belongs there and is a permanent presence in the region,” the minister commented at the time. “Once others will accept these facts, it will be easier to make peace.”
Upon the announcement of the deal, Rabbi Shemtov told the JTA that the Jewish presence in Bahrain which has a small indigenous Jewish community and the United Arab Emirates, which signed a deal with Israel 2 months ago, helped pave the way for the breakthroughs in the past few weeks.
“If Israel is merely viewed as a 70-year-old democratic intrusion in the Middle East, then the chances for peaceful coexistence are less,” he said. “If, however, one takes the view of Israel as the multi-millennial enterprise of the Jewish people, then the opportunities for peaceful coexistence and mutual cooperation are greatly increased.”
Chabad is known to operate in many Muslim countries that are openly hostile to Israel, yet have a Jewish population living there.
VIDEO: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comments about the deal
PM Netanyahu at the start of the Cabinet meeting:
On Friday, I had another conversation with President @realdonaldTrump and the leader of an Arab country, this time with King Hamad of Bahrain.Full remarks >>https://t.co/xrZsLc19kd pic.twitter.com/RlpWFfkpZv
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 13, 2020
