Herzog, Bahrain FM Back Abraham Accords Despite War Strain

President Isaac Herzog met Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani in Baku, Azerbaijan, on October 14, 2026. They discussed widening the Abraham Accords. It's a notable meeting. Six years after Israel and Bahrain normalized relations, the framework they signed on to still stands, even after a war tested it.

The Diplomatic Track

Herzog's office said the two discussed "the importance of strengthening the Abraham Accords to expand the circle of peace and cooperation in the region." The statement also said Herzog stressed the "great importance" of the relationship between Bahrain and Israel.

The language is careful, and the setting is neutral ground. Baku, not Manama or Jerusalem, hosted the encounter. Herzog traveled to Azerbaijan for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia summit, where he was scheduled to speak on October 15.

No agreements were announced. No new commitments surfaced in the readout. Instead, the meeting sent a signal: two governments that normalized ties in 2020 still see value in discussing how to deepen them.

Strain Under Fire

The relationship hasn't been frictionless. Ties between Israel and Bahrain came under strain during the war on Hamas in Gaza that followed the October 7 attack. That detail matters. The Abraham Accords rested on the idea that Arab states could establish normal relations with Israel without waiting for a resolution of the Palestinian issue. The Gaza war pressured that premise, and Bahrain felt the strain in its ties with Israel.

Hamas launched its October 7 assault on Israel, killing civilians and setting off the fighting that followed. Hamas didn't sign any accords. It has never accepted the principle behind the normalization agreements: that Israel is a permanent neighbor to be dealt with, not a state to be erased.

That contrast defines the regional picture. Governments willing to trade with Israel, coordinate with it and sit across a table from its president stand on one side. Armed groups committed to its destruction stand on the other. Bahrain's foreign minister chose to meet.

What Comes Next

Herzog's stated goal is expansion, widening what his office called the circle of peace and cooperation. The available facts don't say which governments might join or whether any talks are underway. What they do show is continuity: the accords survived the strain of the Gaza war, and a senior Bahraini official was willing to engage publicly with Israel's head of state while the war's aftermath still shapes regional politics.

Herzog's address to the Baku summit the following day gives him another platform to make his case before a multilateral audience.

Why This Matters: The Abraham Accords are the region's one diplomatic framework to deliver normalized relations between Israel and Arab states without requiring Israeli concessions on security first. Bahrain's foreign minister still meeting Herzog after a war strained ties suggests some Arab governments put their strategic interests above pressure from the moment. From a security standpoint, these relationships give Israel regional partners while Hamas and its backers remain committed to its destruction. Whether the accords can grow, rather than merely survive, will help determine if pragmatic cooperation or rejectionism sets the region's direction.