The signing ceremony took place during a high-level visit by Israeli and US officials, who arrived on the first-ever commercial flight between Tel Aviv and Manama earlier on Sunday.

Bahrain, along with the United Arab Emirates, agreed to normalise ties following mediation by the United States.

The move infuriated Palestinians, who saw it as a betrayal of a 2002 Arab League precondition for normalisation Israel must first recognise an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani al-Zayani described the visit by the US-Israeli delegation to Bahrain as "historic".

"Today, we build on that historic occasion at the White House last month, taking the next steps to implement the declaration in support of peace and the Abraham Accords," he said after greeting US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabat at Bahrain International Airport.

He said that engagement and co-operation were "the most effective, the most sustainable means to bring about a genuine and lasting peace, one which safeguards the rights of all the Middle East's peoples".

"Such a peace will bring a new stability and prosperity to the region," he said.

An El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 737 took off from Tel Aviv before noon local time and landed three hours later in Manama, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed.

It was the first official flight with a number - LY973 - though no private individuals had been able to purchase tickets for it.

In a press conference after the signing ceremony, al-Zayani said memoranda of understanding were also signed to regulate joint co-operation in areas including politics, agriculture, commerce, IT and visas.

A "positive and constructive atmosphere" had prevailed in all the day's meetings, he said.

Mnuchin said he believed that bilateral trade between Israel and Bahrain had "enormous" potential.

Australian Associated Press