As Israel wages its genocidal and expansionist campaigns, its officials and lobbyists continue to be accorded diplomatic legitimacy at major international forums, including in some Arab capitals. Among the most prominent of these is the Manama Dialogue, a high-level security summit convened annually in Bahrain by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a UK-based think tank with a branch in the Gulf state. The Bahraini government, which funds the event, promotes it as a means of “maintaining regional and international peace and security.” However, the Manama Dialogue’s persistent inclusion of Israeli representatives has made it a platform for normalization with one of the world’s most violent and criminal regimes.
Showcasing & Deepening Normalization
While the Manama Dialogue has been held since 2004, Israeli participation in the event only began after Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, establishing diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv. The inclusion of Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and think tank head Dore Gold in that year’s summit signalled the Bahraini rulers’ intention to cultivate ties with Israel despite widespread popular opposition in Bahrain. As diplomatic, commercial, and security cooperation between the two governments intensified, Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata became a familiar face at the Manama Dialogue, speaking at both the 2021 and 2022 summits.
The onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023 brought about an apparent slowdown in Israeli-Bahraini relations, with the two countries’ ambassadors returning home. That year’s Manama Dialogue featured no Israeli speakers. Nonetheless, Bahrain clarified its continued commitment to Israel by becoming the only Arab state to publicly participate in a US-led naval operation aimed at stopping Yemeni attacks on Israel-bound shipping in December 2023.
The 2024 Manama Dialogue provided further confirmation that the Bahraini authorities were maintaining ties to Israel despite the ongoing genocide. Although Israeli officials were again excluded, the government-run Bahrain News Agency proclaimed that a delegation from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the notorious pro-Israel lobbying group, had attended the meeting. This delegation subsequently met with Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs and other senior officials.
The Manama Dialogue functions as a forum for normalization not only within Bahrain but also on a regional level. The meeting affords Israeli agents access to a host of visiting dignitaries from Arab and Muslim countries, many of which have yet to normalize with Tel Aviv. In 2021, the Times of Israel reported on a meeting on the sidelines of the summit between Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Bahrain and Indonesia’s defense minister. This occurred amid speculation that Jakarta was then considering recognizing Israel.
The Manama Dialogue also provides opportunities for the Israelis to engage in track two diplomacy with a range of academics, NGO workers, journalists, and businesspeople from across the Arab world participating in its Young Leaders’ Program. Furthermore, by including Israeli representatives in a meeting billed as “a central element of the Middle East’s security architecture,” the Manama Dialogue contributes to the regional integration of a highly destructive rogue state whose leaders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court. In the words of the BDS Movement, such events seek “to represent Israel alongside Arab countries as if it were a normal part of the region, not a settler-colonial and apartheid state.”
Will we Continue to Legitimize Israeli Aggression?
The repeated Israeli appearances at the Manama Dialogue reflect a steady institutionalization of Israeli participation in Arab-led diplomatic spaces, even as Israel expands its destruction and occupation of Arab lands. Since October 2023, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,000 (and as many as 370,000) Palestinians, systematically targeting hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and aid distribution sites. These attacks, widely documented by human rights organizations and international media, have led many legal scholars to conclude that Israel's conduct meets the legal definition of genocide, with the International Court of Justice finding a “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza in April 2024.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government reported on April 17 that Israel had violated its ceasefire agreement with the country (in effect since November 27, 2024) 2,740 times, killing 190 and injuring 485 people. Total casualties since October 2023 in Lebanon exceed 4,000 deaths and 16,500 injuries. In Syria, Israel has moved to control a 400 square kilometer zone, further expanding its unlawful occupation of that country’s territory. Moreover, in the West Bank, Israel’s extremist government approved 22 new settlements in May 2025, the largest single expansion since the Oslo Accords, while deploying troops to displace Palestinian residents and demolish homes. Most recently, Israel initiated open hostilities with Iran, threatening to plunge the region into a broader conflagration. As of 30 June, the Iranian death toll stands at 935, with over 4,700 wounded.
Israel’s unrelenting violence renders continued Arab participation in platforms of normalization like the Manama Dialogue untenable. The notion that Israel can simultaneously conduct war crimes and expansionist campaigns while engaging in regional diplomatic forums, undermines the credibility of the regional and international order. The international community, and Arab states in particular, must re-evaluate the legitimacy conferred upon Israeli officials amid a record of unrelenting violence. Representatives of civil society, academia, and the private sector in the region should also refuse to act as accessories of normalization. To boycott the Manama Dialogue would be to insist that diplomacy must be anchored in justice, and to refuse to allow the language of peace and security to be used as a cover for policies that actively undermine both.