US Navy eyes Israeli robot boats for Mideast ops as Bennett visits Bahrain

The US Navy is considering adding unmanned Israeli boats to its joint Middle East operations, a US official said, a move that could deepen Israel’s growing role in regional military arrangements as it normalises ties with the Gulf countries.

Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and several international naval task forces, is hosting a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first by any Israeli leader following the 2020 normalisation of ties between the two states.

Israel is due to become the 29th country to post an attache to the fleet’s Manama headquarters, officials said, adding the as-yet unnamed envoy would likely be of navy captain or commander rank.

“It’s about keeping the lines of communication open” bilaterally between Israel and the fleet, a US official said, referring to the plan to station the envoy in the Gulf kingdom.

Israel has not formally confirmed the appointment.

Bennett told Fleet chief Vice-Admiral Brad Cooper at a meeting on Tuesday that he expected “the cooperation among the region’s countries and powerful ally the United States will keep getting closer”, the prime minister’s office said.

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The US official said the Fifth Fleet was examining dozens of unmanned vessels as part of current Gulf exercises, and it was interested in Israeli-made surface drones as possible complements to flying and underwater drones.

“The Israelis are definitely vested in leveraging this technology,” the official said, adding that a fleet commander had in recent weeks visited Haifa in Israel to study the surface drones.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Bennett described his two-day trip as a chance to forge a common stand against Iran and its allies including Yemen’s Houthis.

Bennett met with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, government ministers and members of Bahrain’s Jewish community on Tuesday. In a town hall with Bahraini civil servants and journalists, Bennett stressed the need to increase trade and other links.

“We don’t have enough trade, we don’t have enough tourism — and that is what this visit is all about,” Bennett said.

“I’m going to be your ambassador there (in Israel). I want to ‘sell Bahrain’,” he added.

Israel and Bahrain also signed a research and development accord and agreed to expedite negotiations on an investment protection agreement to facilitate investment flows, Bennett’s office said.

Earlier this month Israel and Bahrain signed a security cooperation agreement, Israel’s first with a Gulf nation.

“Israel and Bahrain are dealing with major security challenges stemming from the same source; the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Bennett told Bahraini newspaper Alayam.

• Bahrain