A US Navy soldier onboard Mark VI Patrol Boat stands guard as an oil tanker moves towards Bahrain port, during an exercise of US/UK Mine Countermeasures (MCMEX) in Arabian Sea, Bahrain, September 11, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

The US Navy is considering adding unmanned Israeli boats to its joint Middle East operations, a US official said, a move that could deepen Israel’s growing role in regional military arrangements as it normalizes ties with former foes in the Gulf.

Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and several international naval task forces, is hosting a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first by any Israeli leader following the 2020 normalization of ties between the two states.

Israel is due to become the 29th country to post an attache to the fleet’s Manama headquarters, officials said, adding the as-yet unnamed envoy would likely be of navy captain or commander rank.

“It’s about keeping the lines of communication open” bilaterally between Israel and the fleet, a US official said, referring to the plan to station the envoy in the Gulf kingdom.

Israel has not formally confirmed the appointment. Fleet chief Vice Admiral Brad Cooper met Bennett on Tuesday, with Bennett telling Cooper he expected “the cooperation among the region’s countries and powerful ally the United States will keep getting closer”, Bennett’s office said.

The US official said the fleet was examining dozens of unmanned vessels as part of current Gulf exercises, and it was interested in Israeli-made surface drones as possible complements to flying and underwater drones.

“The Israelis are definitely vested in leveraging this technology,” the official said, adding that a fleet commander had in recent weeks visited Haifa in Israel to study the surface drones.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

In November, Forces from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Israel and the Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) took part in a security exercise in the Red Sea, the first publicly acknowledged naval exercise between the United States, Israel and its two new Gulf friends.

Bennett described his two-day trip as a chance to forge a common stand against Iran and its allies like Yemen’s Houthis, whose attacks on the UAE this year jarred the oil-producing region.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain accuses Shi’ite Iran of stoking unrest in Bahrain, a charge Tehran denies.