Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Tuesday after arriving for a first visit by an Israeli leader to the Gulf Arab country, the prime minister's office said.

"Prime Minister Bennett was received by an honor guard at the palace of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain Al Khalifa," Bennett's office said in a statement.

The visit came 17 months after the two countries defied decades of tensions to normalize ties.