CAIRO, September 16 (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of Israel and Morocco agreed to intensify diplomatic relations, including the opening of embassies and the appointment of ambassadors, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the official Arabic-language account of the Israeli government on X.
Morocco was one of four Arab countries — together with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan — to advance normalisation of relations with Israel in 2020, as part of deals negotiated by the United States. Israel separately maintains peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
The agreements fueled Palestinian concerns about the viability of a long-standing pan-Arab stance that calls for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and recognition of a Palestinian state, in exchange for normal relations with the Arab countries.
The statement said a trilateral meeting took place in New York between Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, and the United States ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz.
The authorities reaffirmed their commitment to a series of measures aimed at promoting ties between Israel and Morocco, including “raising their respective diplomatic missions to the level of embassies and appointing ambassadors,” according to the communiqué.
They also agreed to expand flights between Israel and Morocco and to work on finalising agreements intended to facilitate mutual investments and economic and commercial ties.
