American Jewish businessmen pray during a recent trip to Bahrain. Photo: Screenshot.

A recent visit to the Gulf nation of Bahrain by a group of religious American Jewish businessmen has drawn the attention of Arab media outlets, the popular pro-Israel Elder of Ziyon blog reported on Friday.

Videos and photos posted online showed the Jewish visitors and their Bahraini hosts warmly socializing and even dancing together.

According to Elder of Ziyon, the delegation also visited Dubai, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

Related coverage

April 19, 2017 6:06 pm

0

French Jews Fear Extremists on Right and Left, But Have No Favorite in Sunday’s First Round of Presidential Election

French Jews are apprehensive and have no favorite candidate among the 11 running in the first round of their country’s...

Solomon Eisenberg — one of the businessmen who took part in the trip — was quoted as saying there was “a need for direct dialogue, away from governments and media, between people of different faiths and origins.”

A Bahraini businessman was quoted as saying that the meetings with the Americans “opened the way for economic and trade opportunities.”

Bahrain and Israel do not have official diplomatic relations. However, Israel’s behind-the-scenes ties with the Sunni Arab axis in the Middle East have been getting stronger in recent years.

In his UN General Assembly speech in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in addition to Egypt and Jordan, which already have signed peace treaties with Israel, “many other states in the region recognize that Israel is not their enemy. They recognize that Israel is their ally. Our common enemies are ISIS and Iran. Our common goals are security, prosperity and peace. I believe that in the years ahead we will work together to achieve these goals.”

Watch a video showing highlights from the trip below: