An Israeli delegation is reportedly due to travel to Bahrain later this month for a UNESCO event in Manama.
Mounir Bushnaki an adviser for the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities told The Bahraini daily Akhbar al-Khaleej that Manama will host the Israeli delegation for the 42nd World Heritage Committee session scheduled to be held in the Bahraini capital between June 24 and July 4.
“An Israeli delegation will attend the meetings because this is an international meeting organized by UNESCO and Bahrain is just the host” he said.
He also noted that any member of the UN “has the right to participate including Israel” claiming that Bahrain would avoid politicizing the event.
Bahrain has no formal diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation but senior officials from the two sides have reportedly had secret contacts in recent years.
Manama’s overtures to Israel have been met with strong public scrutiny with people in the Persian Gulf kingdom holding numerous protest rallies against normalization of ties with Israel.
