Defense Minister Benny Gantz landed today (Wednesday) at the airport in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, for the first ever official visit by an Israeli defense minister to the country. 

During the visit, Gantz will visit the Fifth Fleet and will be received by the Honor Guard at the Ministry of Defense. He will then meet with Bahrain's Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff to sign a historic security agreement (including the signing of the MOU - a document aimed at motivating business cooperation). Later, he will meet with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain.

The Defense Minister arrived accompanied by his Chief of Staff Maayan Israeli, Head of the Political-Security Division Zohar Felti, Commander of the Navy General David Saar Selma, and Military Secretary Brigadier General Yaki Dolph. Alonei.

The defense minister's visit takes place against the background of tensions in the Gulf with Iran and the Houthi terrorist organization. Added to this tension is the fact that an Israeli Air Force plane flew over Saudi Arabia on its way to the country. This is a clear Israeli message to Iran, when the ayatollahs' regime plays in Syrian and Lebanese territory against Israel's borders, Israel in response does the same in the Gulf.

The security memorandum to be signed tomorrow by the defense minister may lead to a tightening of security cooperation between Israel and Bahrain and may very well in the foreseeable future lead to changes such as expanding the Israeli alert against various threats such as ballistic missiles and more.