Jewish communities have largely resided in present-day Iraq and Yemen, and their history in the regions of Arabian Peninsula dates back to the Biblical period. This region includes the countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, some parts of Iraq and Jordan and United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is a federation of 7 regions or Sheikhdoms, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The Jewish communities have inhabited most of the parts of the Arabian Peninsula, but most have migrated to Israel as a result of the Arab-Israel conflicts. But recently, Israel announced the launch of an association that brings together Jewish communities in the Arab Gulf states with a new initiative named “Israel speaks Arabic”, which is launched by the Foreign Ministry of Israel. It explained that this new initiative is one of its kind and it covers all the six Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. 

According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), the group will seek to provide religious services to Jews who travel to the Gulf countries whether for residence or tourism. And the association will be headed by Abraham Nono, who is similarly the chairman of the Jewish community of Bahrain. The IPBC is aiming to unify the resources of the communities, such as kosher food, an item related to food that conforms to Jewish religious teachings, religious aid, and burial among other things, and make them available to all Jews in the Gulf. There are no specific numbers of Jews residing in the Gulf countries. However, Israel announced that around 1,30,000 Israelis have visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since a normalization agreement was signed between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv in September 2020. Last year, the UAE, Sudan, Bahrain and Morocco announced controversial normalization agreements with Israel, following moves decades ago by Egypt and Jordan, with signed agreements with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively. When these Jewish communities in six Gulf countries declared the creation of the region’s first communal organization, it became the latest indication of refining relations between Israel and parts of the Arabian countries.

AGJC is meant to serve Jewish populations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. However, none of these nations have an extensive Jewish population. About 1000 Jews live in the UAE and just a handful live in the nations like Omar and Qatar. The Jews who live in the Gulf are emigrants, except for the Bahrainis Jews, and there are about 50 native Bahraini Jews. Rabbi Elie Abadie, the chairman of the AGJC, gave an interview to VOA, and said, “Would we have imagined something like this a year ago or six months ago, and of course the answer is no. This is of historic significance. I always say we are at the crossroad of history in that entire region if not the world because something like that would not have been even a thought process just a few months ago.” Rabbi similarly said that the newly created Jewish Court named “Beth Din of Arabia” will handle all types of civil disputes, marriage and divorce, and other inheritance issues. It will moreover run the Arabian Kosher certification agency which will support observant Jews throughout the Gulf to get Kosher food.

The newly established AGJC’s members have no diplomatic relations with Israel, but Rabbi explained that the governments in other Gulf countries have been supportive of the association. “I am so far the only Rabbi in that region. I am the Rabbi of the entire association now and as a Rabbi, I will have to provide spiritual services to all the members, religious services, life cycle services, I already began doing it actually, from the moment I arrived in Dubai, also in Bahrain”, Rabbi Abadie said. In Kuwait, there are around 20 Jews, most of them affiliated with the United States Naval base there. A Kuwaiti businessman named Rafael also told VOA. “It’s the first time I have been able to meet people in a similar situation to myself in other countries such as Qatar and Bahrain that I wasn’t able to meet previously. If you think about it, we are islands if virtual Jewish communities like in Kuwait, and we are being connected up, and that is good because you get to know the people. Use the resources, and its good for contacts as well”. Rafael also added that this new association is already making a huge difference in Jewish life. Thus, presently, the Jewish communities can develop in the Arabian Peninsula as a result of the new association in Jewish communities and Israel, with expanding business and increased tolerance of the communal aspects in the Arabian regions. 
__________________________________________

Reference:

• www.khaleejtimes.com
• www.voanews.com