A delegation of Gulf and Arab journalists and social media activists will flock to Israel in the coming days in response to an invitation from the foreign ministry.
The delegation includes reporters from Saudi Arabia Bahrain the United Arab Emirates Iraq and Egypt and it will cross into Israel via the Allenby Bridge for a series of meetings and events with Israeli officials and lawmakers.
“The delegation will visit Yad Vashem the Knesset and Jerusalem’s holy sites” a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry read.
“The delegation will meet with members of the Knesset officials from the foreign ministry and academics” the statement continues and will “tour northern Israel Haifa Nazareth and Tel Aviv.”
The statement adds that the aim of the invitation is to “expose the journalists some of whom come from countries that Israel has no relations with to Israeli positions on political and geographical issues and give them a direct view of Israeli society in all its forms.”
The delegation’s visit will be just weeks after Israeli journalists from six Hebrew media outlets were invited to Bahrain to cover the US-sponsored economic workshop.
The invitation marks the latest development in growing ties between Israel and the Arab world especially the Gulf countries.
Last Thursday in Washington Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz met publicly with his Bahraini counterpart Khaled Al-Khalifa.
