Bahrain

Overview

Bahrain is an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf, linked by causeway to Saudi Arabia. Its capital, Manama, is a banking and commercial center as well as the seat of the monarchy. Bahrain is the smallest member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Its position between Saudi Arabia and Iran has made its internal politics and foreign partnerships consequential beyond its size.

The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain since the late eighteenth century. The kingdom became independent in 1971 after a United Nations inquiry in 1970 established that Bahrainis sought an independent state, ending Iran's historical sovereignty claim in the independence process. The claim nonetheless resurfaced in statements by figures connected to Iran's ruling regime. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, that regime has supported subversive networks in Bahrain. Bahrain's Shia communities also have distinct, longstanding grievances concerning political representation and discrimination; those grievances cannot be treated as evidence that the communities act for Iran.

Bahrain hosts the headquarters of United States Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. In 2020 it established diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords. The decision opened direct diplomatic, travel, commercial, and security ties. Domestic opposition, dependence on Saudi Arabia, and economic gains below early expectations have limited the relationship's pace without ending it.

Geography

Bahrain consists of islands off the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its principal island holds Manama, much of the population, and major commercial and government facilities. The King Fahd Causeway connects the kingdom to Saudi Arabia, making the two countries' transport and security ties unusually close. Muharraq, northeast of Manama, contains Bahrain International Airport and historic urban districts. Khalifa Bin Salman Port serves maritime trade.

The kingdom's location places it near shipping routes that connect the Persian Gulf with the Strait of Hormuz and wider world markets. It also leaves ports, airports, and the causeway exposed to regional threats. The U.S. naval presence reflects that geography. Bahrain's limited land and declining domestic oil reserves have encouraged investment in finance, services, transport, and trade.

History

The islands have a long history of settlement and commerce. The Al Khalifa family established its rule in the late eighteenth century. Bahrain later came under British protection while retaining its own rulers. When Britain withdrew from its Gulf commitments, Bahrain became independent on 15 August 1971. A United Nations inquiry the previous year confirmed support for independence and brought the formal dispute over Iran's historical claim to an end. Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ruled from independence until his death in 1999, when his son, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, succeeded him.

Political unrest accompanied the development of the modern state. Isa dissolved an elected assembly in 1975 and imposed a security law. Demands for restored representation and relief from political and economic exclusion intensified during the 1994–98 unrest. Hamad began a reform process after his succession, including a National Charter and the return of parliamentary elections. Bahrain adopted a new constitution in 2002, but the monarchy retained decisive authority over government.

The regional Arab Spring reached Bahrain in 2011. Protesters sought political reform and an end to discrimination, while the government confronted sustained demonstrations. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened to support Bahrain's rulers; more than 1,000 Saudi National Guard soldiers and about 600 Emirati police were stationed in the kingdom during the crisis. The intervention helped the monarchy withstand the uprising but did not resolve the grievances behind it. Protests and political restrictions continued in subsequent years.

Jewish history

Jewish presence in Bahrain reaches back to antiquity in Jewish and Arabic historical accounts. Arabic accounts record Jews living in Hajar, then Bahrain's capital, in 630 CE and refusing to convert to Islam when Muhammad sent an army there. A later community developed through migration from Iraq, Iran, and India. The Yadgar family arrived from Iraq in 1880. Jewish families worked in commerce, textiles, crafts, and banking, and the community established a synagogue in Manama. One estimate places its peak population at as many as 1,500.

Attacks after the 1947 United Nations vote concerning the creation of Israel damaged the community. Rioters ransacked the synagogue, and many Jews departed in the following years. Another wave left after the 1967 Six-Day War. These departures left a small community, but Jewish life did not disappear from Bahrain. After succeeding his father in 1999, Hamad gathered community members and assured them that the government's policy toward them would continue.

Later public engagement with Jewish organizations accompanied Bahrain's growing contact with Israel. During a 2019 economic workshop in Manama, Jared Kushner learned that the synagogue lacked a Torah scroll and commissioned one for its use. An American Jewish Committee delegation subsequently visited the renovated synagogue and met Bahraini Jews and Israeli diplomats. The American Jewish Committee gave Bahrain its 2019 Architect of Peace Award for Hamad's interfaith initiatives. In November 2022, Manama hosted a conference on peaceful coexistence attended by Pope Francis, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, and other religious leaders.

Government and politics

Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy in which the king retains ultimate authority over most government decisions. Hamad appoints the prime minister and cabinet ministers and exercises substantial influence across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Members of the Al Khalifa family have held many senior posts, including strategic ministries. The 2002 constitution restored a bicameral legislature: voters elect the Council of Representatives, while the king appoints the Shura Council. An elected chamber therefore participates in lawmaking without controlling the monarchy's executive decisions.

Some political societies boycotted the 2002 parliamentary election. Parliamentary and municipal elections in November and December 2006 included societies that had previously stayed out. Representation remained a central dispute, particularly among Shia political groups that described exclusion from state institutions and unequal economic opportunities. Government critics also challenged electoral district boundaries. The authorities' response to the 2011 protests deepened the divide between the ruling family and opposition organizations.

Courts dissolved al-Wifaq in 2016 and Wa'ad in 2017, excluding both prominent opposition societies from the 2018 parliamentary election. In April 2017, Hamad approved a constitutional amendment allowing military courts to try civilians accused of threatening state security. In May that year, police killed five protesters while suppressing a demonstration outside the home of Shia cleric Isa Qassim. These measures drew human rights criticism and narrowed the space for organized opposition.

Political grievances and foreign subversion require separate assessment. Bahrain's Shia citizens hold varied political views, and demands for fair representation do not make protesters agents of Iran. At the same time, Iranian-backed organizations have pursued violence against the state. The monarchy's security concerns and the rights of its citizens are both essential to understanding Bahrain's politics.

Military and security

Bahrain's security policy rests on close partnerships with the United States and neighboring Gulf states. Manama hosts U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet headquarters, providing the United States with a major naval foothold in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain and the United States signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, or C-SIPA, in September 2023. It covers defense and security alongside economic and technological cooperation and provides for senior-level consultation in response to external aggression or its threat.

The Iranian regime has targeted Bahrain for subversion since the 1979 revolution. In 1981, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain attempted a failed coup; more than 70 operatives received long prison sentences, while others fled to Iran. Bahraini forces detained 44 Hezbollah-Bahrain operatives in 1996 after deadly violence in Manama. The operatives confessed to training by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. Bahraini authorities exposed another cell run by the Revolutionary Guard Corps in February 2013. It planned attacks on public figures, the King Fahd Causeway, Bahrain International Airport, and other facilities. In 2020, the United States designated Saraya al-Mukhtar, a Bahraini terrorist organization supported by the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iranian regime figures have also threatened Bahrain openly. On 19 June 2016, Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani threatened the royal family with an armed uprising. Tensions rose after Bahrain established relations with Israel in 2020, although Hamad later pursued contact with Tehran: during a May 2024 visit to Russia, he expressed support for restoring diplomatic relations with Iran's ruling regime. That outreach occurred alongside Bahrain's continuing security partnerships with the United States and Israel.

Bahrain joined the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war launched in March 2015. Four Bahrain Defense Force personnel were killed by a Houthi drone attack near the Saudi–Yemeni border in 2023. Bahrain also joined Operation Prosperity Guardian, the maritime-security coalition formed amid Houthi attacks on shipping; it was the coalition's only publicly participating Arab or Muslim country at the outset. Opposition figure Ebrahim Sharif was arrested in December 2023 after social-media posts criticizing Bahrain's participation and encouraging support for Houthi actions.

Iranian regime attacks on Bahrain intensified in February and March 2026. On 28 February, Iran launched missiles and drones toward the kingdom, including targets in Manama. Bahraini forces reported intercepting 45 ballistic missiles and nine drones during the initial attacks. Subsequent incidents included a drone strike on the Crowne Plaza Hotel without reported injuries and missile debris striking a vessel at Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Muharraq. Bahrain's defenses later reported intercepting a further 13 drones and six ballistic missiles. The attacks demonstrated the exposure of civilian and commercial sites as well as military facilities.

Relations with Israel

Bahrain's engagement with Israel developed before formal normalization. Hamad opposed the Arab League boycott of Israel and encouraged Bahrainis to travel there in 2017. Bahrain hosted a United States economic workshop in Manama in 2019. Israeli officials also attended a maritime and aviation security meeting in the city co-hosted by Bahrain, the United States, and Poland. These contacts preceded a sovereign Bahraini decision to establish direct diplomatic relations with Israel.

Bahrain and Israel signed their normalization agreement at the White House on 15 September 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. Jared Kushner met Hamad and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in Manama during the negotiations. A joint communiqué signed in Manama on 18 October established peaceful diplomatic relations. Accompanying agreements covered economic cooperation, civil aviation, finance, communications, mail, agriculture, cooperation between foreign ministries, and diplomatic visa exemptions. Direct flights created new opportunities for travelers and businesses, and Bahrain launched a business council to develop trade and investment with Israelis.

The relationship gained a visible diplomatic presence in September 2021, when Foreign Minister Yair Lapid became the first Israeli cabinet member to visit Bahrain and opened Israel's embassy in Manama. Bahraini and Israeli representatives participated in a ceremony marking the Accords' first anniversary. Mutual recognition of vaccine passports eased travel for qualifying visitors. Defense cooperation advanced when Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Manama and signed a military cooperation memorandum with his Bahraini counterpart. Israel's national security adviser also addressed the annual Manama Dialogue, a defense and security forum convened by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Bahrain joined wider regional diplomacy with Israel. Foreign ministers from Bahrain, Israel, the United States, Egypt, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates met at the Negev Summit in March 2022. Senior officials held the Negev Forum Steering Committee's inaugural meeting in Manama on 27 June. Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani continued to express support for regional connection at a 2023 Abraham Accords event. Diplomatic and economic ties established by Bahrain and other Arab signatories weakened the practical effect of the Arab League boycott.

Normalization has faced domestic opposition, including protests after the agreement. Bahrain's dependence on Saudi Arabia limits its room to maneuver, and economic benefits had fallen short of expectations three years after signing. Regional conflict further cooled public aspects of the relationship. Direct links nevertheless continued, including business and security cooperation. Bahrain's proximity to Iran, its Fifth Fleet base, and its ties to Saudi Arabia give cooperation with Israel significance beyond commerce.

Economy

Bahrain was an early Gulf oil producer, but its domestic reserves are limited and have declined. Revenue from a Saudi oil field has remained important, while banking, commerce, and other services have become central to the economy. Manama developed into a regional financial center, supported by Bahrain's trading history and connections across the Gulf. Its economy remains sensitive to oil revenue, public spending, and the policies of neighboring states.

Fiscal pressure has prompted periodic reform. Manama increased gasoline prices in January 2018, then paused further austerity measures two weeks later. Later that year, Gulf donors conditioned a five-year aid package on spending restraint and higher non-oil revenue. In March 2020, the government announced an $11.4 billion pandemic relief package, equal to almost 30 percent of national gross domestic product. These measures illustrate the tension between economic diversification and the cost of maintaining public finances.

Bahrain's transport and commercial plans are regional as well as domestic. A proposed $16 billion, 2,117-kilometer railway would connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council states. China has pursued commercial ties with Bahrain through energy and Belt and Road projects, while Bahrain has maintained its United States security alliance. Trade and investment with Israel expanded the kingdom's commercial options after 2020, although early gains from normalization were more modest than expected.

Society and religion

Bahrain's society includes Shia and Sunni Muslims alongside smaller Christian, Jewish, and other communities. The Al Khalifa rulers are Sunni, while Shia Bahrainis form a substantial part of the citizen population. Differences over political representation, employment, and access to state institutions have shaped public life for decades. Those issues became especially visible during the 2011 protests and remain distinct from the activities of Iranian-backed armed cells.

Religious practice has also reflected disputes over equal public treatment. In March 2005, Muharraq residents petitioned the Ministry of Information to broadcast Friday sermons live from Shia mosques, as government television did for Sunni mosques. The ministry did not respond to the petition. At the same time, Bahrain has presented interfaith coexistence as a public priority, hosting international religious gatherings and maintaining its small Jewish community. The coexistence initiatives and the documented complaints about discrimination are both part of the kingdom's contemporary record.

Bahrain's foreign relations have periodically divided opinion at home. Its 2017 break with Qatar, alongside Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, formed part of a Gulf embargo that lasted until 2021. Its participation in maritime operations against Houthi attacks and its peace with Israel likewise became subjects of domestic debate. The kingdom remains a center of Gulf diplomacy whose choices are shaped by its monarchy, diverse society, limited resources, and exposure to regional conflict.