Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa officially appointed Khaled Youssef Al-Jalahma as Bahrain’s first ambassador to Israel on Tuesday.

Al Jalahma has been serving as the director of operations at Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry and previously served as the deputy ambassador to the United States and other senior diplomatic positions.

Bahrain has not yet established an embassy in Israel and it is unclear when Al Jalahma will arrive in Israel.

Mazal Tov Amb. Khaled Yousif al-Jalahama! Today, HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a royal decree appointing him as the Head of the Diplomatic Mission of #Bahrain to #Israel! We worked closely in DC & I'm thrilled that he will help steer our growing relationship with Israel pic.twitter.com/i7hR8NEKOG

— Houda Nonoo (@hnonoo75) June 29, 2021

“His Majesty, may G-d preserve him, congratulated Ambassador Khaled Youssef Al Jalahma, and His Majesty expressed his lofty directives to the ambassador, wishing him success in promoting Bahrain’s noble message of peace and the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence,” Bahraini state media said.

Great to see King Hamad officially receive Amb. Khaled Yousif al-Jalahma as Bahrain’s first ambassador to Israel. We eagerly await the official presentation of credentials in Israel. We applaud Bahrain’s continued steps to forge a close relationship with Israel.

— U.S. State Dept – Near Eastern Affairs (@StateDept_NEA) June 29, 2021

Israel signed a normalization agreement with Bahrain last September as part of the Abraham Accords.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)