Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday made history by becoming the first Israeli head of state to visit the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain.

A Bahraini military band played Israel’s national anthem to mark Bennett’s arrival in the royal palace in the capital city Manama after Bennett spent Tuesday morning with leaders from Bahrain’s Jewish community.

Also read | Some Russian troops being pulled out from Ukraine border: Report

The Israeli Prime Minister was received by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, who is also the Prime Minister of Bahrain, and is also slated to meet King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

Speaking on Tuesday with the state-linked Al-Ayyam paper, Bennett said, “Israel and Bahrain are dealing with major security challenges that stem from the same source, which is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran destabilizes the entire region.”

Also read | Rocket set to crash into moon of Chinese origin not SpaceX, says NASA

“We will fight Iran and its followers in the region night and day. We will aid our friends in strengthening peace, security and stability, whenever we are asked to do so,” the Israeli Prime Minister further said.

Among other things, Bennett expressed hopes of improved trade and tourism between Israel and Gulf states, saying, “I expect that the volume of trade between us will increase significantly, as happened with the volume of trade between us and the Emirates. I also expect that the volume of tourist traffic will also increase, after the end of the Corona pandemic, of course.”

Also read | Australia urges China to denounce Russian troop build-up around Ukraine

“I look forward to the two peoples getting to know each other better by sending reciprocal missions, holding joint cultural events, holding religious meetings, and so on. We want a very warm peace with Bahrain,” the Israeli Prime Minister concluded.

As Bennett’s speech highlighted, both Israel and Bahrain see Iran as a major security threat in the region, and Bahrain’s ruling Sunni minority community reportedly fears Iranian influence on the majority of Shi’ites, who have been history excluded from top-level decision making. Iran has reportedly also backed revolutionary groups in Bahrain.

Also read | India advises citizens in Ukraine to return ‘temporarily’ amid Russia tensions

Bahrain and Israel normalised relations towards the end of 2020 as a part of the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements between Arab states and Israel backed by the US.

Since then, Israel has been trying to strengthen its relations with its Middle Eastern allies in a bid to counter Tehran’s influence in the region.