Jerusalem. A team of Israeli-US diplomats is due to leave for Bahrain on Sunday to discuss the country’s diplomatic relations with Israel. Last month, the two countries agreed to normalize relations and, as a follow up, a joint team of Israeli-US diplomats is expected to hold talks with Bahraini officials on various issues starting Sunday.

US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat are leading their respective teams of diplomats. Israeli officials have stated that they will depart for Bahrain from Israel’s oil-rich Ben Gurion Airport. Flight 973 of the Israeli commercial airline El Al will depart for Bahrain’s capital Manama via Saudi Arabian airspace.

An Israeli diplomat, securing his anonymity, said the visit would formalize the establishment of diplomatic relations with Bahrain. Last month, since the normalization of relations, Israeli and Bahraini officials flew to Manama for the first time to discuss various aspects of cooperation.

The issue of establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Bahrain has sparked outrage in the Palestinian community. Palestinians have accused the leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates of betrayal for establishing ties with Israel. They added that the two countries have backtracked from their previous stance of not establishing diplomatic or other relations with Israel until the declaration of an independent Palestinian state.

According to the agreement, the two countries will normalize relations with Israel and open embassies and appoint ambassadors to each other’s countries. Israeli officials added that they would open an embassy in Bahrain by the following month.