Israel has opened a “virtual embassy” to reach out and promote dialogue with the citizens of the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Through this Twitter account, the Israeli Foreign Minisgtry hopes to conduct a dialogue with the people of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
The new account is called ‘Israel in the GCC.'
Israel has no official representation in these countries, although Israel did operate diplomatic missions in Qatar and Oman until both were closed in the wake of Operation Cast Lead in 2008 to 2009, during which Israel entered the Gaza Strip in an effort to quell rocket fire on Israeli civilians.
However, in May 2010, Israel’s then Trade Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer attended an international economic conference in Qatar.
Earlier this year, Finance Ministry documents detailing the expenditure of the Foreign Ministry indicated that an Israeli diplomatic mission had been opened in the Persian Gulf between 2010 and 2012. However, the government would not reveal the identity of the country in question.
It is thought that many of the Gulf States, which are Sunni countries, share Israel’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear threat. However, Qatar has also become a significant financial supporter of the Hamas authority in the Gaza Strip.