Bahraini protesters chant 'Death to Israel' over embassy opening

Small-scale protests take place across the Gulf kingdom after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid dedicates the Jewish state's first embassy in the country.

Sunday, October 03, 2021

Anti-Israel protests broke out in Bahrain on Friday, a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's visit to the kingdom, where he dedicated the Jewish state's first embassy in the country.

Police fired tear gas during one rally as scattered, small-scale protests took place around the tiny Gulf state, French news agency AFP reported.

Protesters marched waving Palestinian and Bahraini flags, chanting "Death to Israel" and "No to Israeli embassy in Islamic Bahrain."

Local media said no arrests were made during the protests.

Lapid's visit on Thursday came a year after Bahrain normalized ties with Israel, breaking with decades of Arab consensus that there should be no relations without a resolution to the Palestinian conflict.

The United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco also established relations with the Jewish state in a series of US-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords.