An official Israeli delegation was forced to cancel its scheduled participation at a conference in the Kingdom of Bahrain, after anti-Israeli groups held an extensive campaign against the visit.
The Israeli delegation, comprised of a group of business executives and government officials, was expected to partake in the conference, upon invitation from the U.S.-based Global Entrepreneurship Network organizers. After Jerusalem openly accepting the invitation, a public outcry was launched by anti-Israeli activists in Bahrain, which prompted parliament members to join calls on social media calling for the visit to be cancelled and some minor street protests were held in the Bahraini capital, Manama.
According to a statement by a group of lawmakers, “Bahrain’s parliament announce(d) that the people of Bahrain reject any Israeli presence on its territory and its lands and any decision allowing this presence is unacceptable.”
Nevertheless, after a group of Bahraini lawyers failed to block the Israeli participation by means of a court order, a spokesperson for Israel’s Economy Ministry released a statement in which she announced the decision to pull-out from the conference because of so-called “political issues.”
In response to this decision, President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network Jonathan Ortmans released a statement that read, “While we advised the Israeli delegation they would be welcome, they decided this morning not to come due to security concerns and a wish not to cause disruption for the other 180 nations participating.”
An Israeli intelligence source told TV7 that the Israeli delegation’s decision, in coordination with Israel’s Security Agency, was made after a radical Shi’ite terror group called Saraya Wa’ad Allah released a video in which it vowed to conduct an aerial bombing targeting the hotel where the Israeli delegation was possibly planning on staying.