In yet another recent example of Israel's serious efforts to improve and normalize relations with the Muslim world, on Wednesday night diplomats from Israel, Bahrain and Azerbaijan co-hosted an Iftar meal attended by high-ranking government officials from around the world at the Watergate Hotel in Washington.
Award-winning Israeli chef Michael Solomonov prepared the food for the meal.
Iftar is the main meal served at the end of the fasting day during Ramadan. Islam is Bahrain's state religion and over 90% of Azerbaijan's population are Muslims.
Michael Herzog, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States expressed optimism about the future friendship between the three guest nations:
“This unprecedented event is not only the fulfillment of a blessed tradition but also about building interfaith, inter-communal and inter-regional bridges. The month of Ramadan offers an opportunity to envision a brighter future together. I’m happy to celebrate tonight with our dear friends. As children of Abraham, the people of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Israel are bound by close friendship. This year’s Iftar celebration highlighted the deepening cooperation among the three countries, which includes burgeoning regional and interfaith initiatives. The bright future that lies ahead for Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Israel rests on cross-regional cooperation that addresses both our shared challenges and opportunities."
Bahrain's Ambassador, Abdullah R. Al-Khalifa was equally optimistic, as he tweeted images taken at the meal and wrote:
“As I looked up at the crowd, I couldn’t help but realize that I was looking at the new Middle East: peace, prosperity and hope for a brighter future for all!”
“The message is clear: peace, friendship, interfaith dialogue, regional bonds & shared values will trump the challenges we face!” wrote Azerbaijan’s envoy Khazar Ibrahim, while sharing photos of the event on Twitter:
Among those in attendance were United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt and Republican Representative Victoria Spartz of Indiana. the latter shared images and released a statement on her Twitter account.
Israel participated in the Abraham Accords in 2020 by signing normalization deals with the UAE and Bahrain, kick-starting an Israel-Arab peace movement spearheaded by former United States President Donald Trump and hosted at the White House. Several news outlets have recently reported that Israel is negotiating with Mauritania, Indonesia, Somalia, and Niger to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords.
There have also been two summits since February of this year held between representatives from Israel and Palestine, including diplomats from Jordan, Egypt and the US, catalyzing some attendees to declare that the process of resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict is experiencing a revival.
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