The monumental announcement that Bahrain and Israel are establishing official relations is exciting and gratifying, both from an international relations perspective but also for me personally. I have enjoyed a close relationship with King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain for more than a decade. We have had many conversations about Israel over the years and he has shared his paramount interest in, and authentic desire to see, the establishment of relations between his kingdom and Israel. He has always recognized that Israel and Bahrain have more in