By Dan Williams

MANAMA (Reuters). -On Monday, Naftali Bennett, the Israeli Prime Minister arrived in Bahrain’s capital Manama for the most high-level of visits since their establishment of relations in 2020 under a U.S.-sponsored agreement. This deal was partly based on mutual concerns about Iran.

According to his office, Bennett will be meeting with the Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.

According to a statement, “The leaders will talk about additional ways to strengthen bilateral relations…especially the advancement of diplomatic-economic issues with an accent on technology and innovations.”

This two-day trip, which will take them to Bahrain to visit the U.S. Navy’s Gulf headquarters, is taking place amid increased tensions due to missile strikes by Yemen’s Iran aligned Houthis against the neighboring United Arab Emirates. In 2020, Israel restored normal relations with the UAE.

Bennett stated that the intention of his visit was to send a “message… of goodwill… and take a common stance against all threats” before taking-off.

Israel is increasing its cooperation with Gulf countries. Manama hosted Israel’s defense minister February 2, and said that an Israeli military officer would be stationed in Bahrain to support an international coalition.

A Shi’ite opposition has criticised the Sunni Muslim monarch of Bahrain for his outreach. Protests have been held in solidarity to the Palestinians.

Reuters activists reported that protests took place in several Shi’ite villages just before Bennett visited. Photographs posted to social media by Bahrain’s now-dissolved opposition group al-Wefaq showed numerous protestors holding Bahraini flags, shouting slogans, and marching.

Israel is open to cooperating with new Gulf countries on air defense. However, it did not specify whether selling Iron Dome the short-range missile interceptor Iron Dome might be possible.

In the past, such sales have come under scrutiny for whether or not the systems were secure. The possibility that the system could be a threat to U.S. exports of defense products has also been raised.

If Israel wanted to sell Iron Dome in the Gulf, a U.S. official didn’t see any problem.

The official said that there was a lot of interest to Iron Dome in the area, but could not identify himself by name.