Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa

Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa (born 24 April 1960) is a Bahraini diplomat who served as Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 until January 2020. Khalid became only the second foreign minister in Bahrain's history after replacing Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa who then became Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain.

Early life and education Khalid bin Ahmed was born on 24 April 1960. He received a bachelor's degree in history and political sciences from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, in 1984. His deputy until 2011 was Nazar Al Baharna, formerly a leading member of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's main Shia opposition party.

In May 2018 he expressed his support of Israeli airstrikes in Syria against Iranian targets, saying "it is the right of any country in the region, including Israel to defend itself by destroying sources of danger".

On 14 February 2019, Khalid bin Ahmed said that Israelis and Palestinians would be closer to a peace agreement if not for Iran's malign behavior. He said he grew up thinking that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the most important issue in the region, but now he sees that the "more toxic" challenge in the region is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During a 25–26 June economic conference in Manama arranged by Jared Kushner to attract investors to the Palestinian territories, Khalid told Israel's channel 13: "Israel is part of this heritage of this whole region, historically, so the Jewish people have a place amongst us". The Palestinian Authority boycotted the two-day economic conference due to the White House's perceived Israeli bias.

Honors and awards He was awarded the Bahrain Second Class Medal by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in May 2001 in recognition of his contribution and role as a Liaison Officer during the territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar.