Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met a short while ago with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at his palace in Manama. The two men talked privately for about an hour.

Bennett's meeting with the king followed another with Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, also at the royal palace, where Bennett was received with full honors. A short video posted by Bennett’s Twitter account shows the two prime ministers standing at the entrance to the royal palace with the flags of their countries waving behind them, while a Bahraini military band played the Israeli national anthem.

After the reception, Bennett held a private meeting with the crown prince before their teams convened for a working session. Bennett told him, “I see a very big opportunity here. This is the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to Bahrain. I come from Israel with a spirit of goodwill, cooperation, of standing together in the face of common challenges, and I think our goal in this visit is to turn this peace from a peace between governments to a peace between people, and convert it from something ceremonial to something meaningful.”

Bennett landed in Manama last night. The Israeli prime minister started his morning by meeting the leaders of the small local community, including prominent leader Abraham David Nonoo and former Bahraini Ambassador to the United States Houda Nonoo.