The Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at the IDC Herzliya private Israeli university signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with the Derasat Institute – The Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies.

The two think tanks plan cooperative ventures including a joint fellowship exchange program; joint research projects; sharing of resources; and joint conferences, seminars and workshops.

The MoU was signed by former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor, currently chairman of the Abba Eban Institute; and Derasat Institute Executive Director Hamad Ebrahim Al Abdulla.

The ceremony was attended by Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, undersecretary for political affairs at the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputy secretary general of the Supreme Defense Council, and IDC Herzliya President and Founder Prof. Uriel Reichman.

Al Khalifa said, “I remember sitting on the South Lawn of the White House last September and realizing that history was in the making, when the Kingdom of Bahrain decided to join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Back then there was nothing between our countries. Today we’ve come a long way and we have a solid foundation. The values of peace, coexistence and religious tolerance are values that Bahrain has been upholding for centuries both our peoples share. Linking our faculties, our researchers, our analysts, our students and having them work together will do a lot for the development of bilateral relations between Bahrain and Israel.”