welcomes Hamad to the
Oval Office on 29 November 2004 On the death of his father Isa, Hamad became
Emir of Bahrain on 6 March 1999. As Emir, Hamad brought several political reforms to Bahrain. These included the release of all political prisoners, the dissolution of the State Security Court and the abolition of the
1974 Decree on State Security Measures. Additionally, many Bahraini citizens were permitted to return after several years in exile overseas. In 2002, he declared himself
king. He enjoys wide executive authorities which include appointing the
prime minister and his
ministers, commanding the army, chairing the
Higher Judicial Council, appointing the
parliament's
upper half and dissolving its elected
lower half. Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bahrain Economic Development Board and the Supreme Council for Women. The vast majority of significant positions in the
Bahrain Defence Force are held by
Sunnis.
2011 Bahraini uprising On 11 February 2011, King Hamad ordered that 1,000
Bahraini Dinars (approximately US$2,667) be given to "each family" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the
National Action Charter referendum. Agence France-Presse linked the BD1,000 payments to 14 February 2011 demonstration plans. On 14 February 2011, the ninth anniversary of the writing of the
Constitution of 2002, Bahrain was rocked by protests inspired by the
Arab Spring and co-ordinated by a
Facebook page named "Day of Rage in Bahrain", a page that was
liked by tens of thousands just one week after its creation. The Bahrain government responded with what has been described as a "brutal" crackdown on the protests, including
violations of human rights that caused anger. Later on, demonstrators demanded that Hamad step down. As a result of this "massive" crackdown,
Foreign Policy Magazine classified him as ranking 3rd out of 8 of "America's Unsavory Allies" calling him "one of the bad guys the U.S. still supports". On 15 February 2011, Hamad apologized for the deaths of two demonstrators in a rare TV speech and urged an investigation into the incident. Two days later, four protesters were killed and hundreds wounded when protesters were attacked in
Pearl Roundabout at 03:00 am local time. The Pearl Roundabout was evacuated and encircled by the Bahraini army. Two days later, Prince Salman, Hamad's son, ordered the withdrawal of army troops from there after the death of another protester caused by live ammunition next to Pearl roundabout. As protests intensified toward the end of the month, King Hamad was forced to offer concessions in the form of the release of political prisoners and the dismissal of three government ministers. During the peak of the
Bahraini uprising in mid March 2011, Hamad declared a State of National Safety for three months just after Salman summoned
Peninsula Shield Force troops to enter Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia deployed about 1,000 troops with armoured support, and the
United Arab Emirates deployed about 500 troops. Opposition parties reacted strongly, calling it an "occupation". Hamad, however, claimed that he deployed the troops to "protect infrastructure and to secure key installations". In June 2011, Hamad commissioned the
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, headed by respected human rights lawyer
M. Cherif Bassiouni, to look into the events surrounding the unrest. The establishment of the BICI was praised by
Barack Obama and the international community as a step towards establishing responsibility and accountability for the events of the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising. The BICI reported its findings in November 2011 and
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "commend[ed] King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's initiative in commissioning it". On 18 September 2022, he met with King
Charles III at
Buckingham Palace, London, to express condolences ahead of the
state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. In August 2020, King Hamad explained to visiting U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo that Bahrain was committed to the creation of a
Palestinian state, implicitly rejecting the normalization of ties with
Israel. However, on 11 September 2020, it was announced that Bahrain and Israel had
agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. The Bahrain–Israel agreement was concluded after a phone call involving King Hamad, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. President
Donald Trump, and is part of the
Abraham Accords, a series of agreements between Muslim states and Israel. On 15 September 2020, Bahrain officially opened state to state relations with Israel, signing diplomatic agreements at a public ceremony at the
White House in
Washington, D.C. On 2 November 2023, Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Israel, seemingly in response to the
Gaza war. However, the king did not withdraw Bahrain from the Abraham Accords, and several bilateral agreements with Israel in fields such as tourism and healthcare remained in effect. == Personal life ==