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The foreign ministers of Israel and Morocco are taking a new step towards strengthening their relations, signing three agreements less than a year after agreeing to normalize relations.
Visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita signed an air service agreement between the Kingdom of North Africa and the State of Israel on Wednesday, as well as in the fields of culture, sports and youth. Agreement to develop cooperation.
The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries.
It is not clear what such a memorandum will contain, but it seems to fit with Rapide’s wider face-to-face diplomacy design during his two-day visit to Morocco.
The trip will end on Thursday with the inauguration ceremony of the Israeli liaison team in the capital Rabat.
Israel and Morocco agreed in December Restore diplomatic relations And in accordance with the agreement facilitated by former U.S. President Donald Trump to reopen direct flights.
As part of the agreement, Washington also recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, where it has had decades of territorial disputes with Morocco and clashed with the Polisario Front backed by Algeria, which aims to Create an independent country on the territory.
The Moroccan Foreign Minister told him Visit israel The other side believes that the newly upgraded relationship between the two countries will bring economic benefits and urges him to work hard to achieve a two-State solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Our relationship with Israel is different from any other relationship,” Bourita, who stood with Israeli colleague Rapide, told reporters on Wednesday that Morocco’s Jewish tradition is a core part of its identity.
Regarding the Palestinians, Bourita said, “it is necessary to restore trust between the parties… and avoid increasing tensions in order to pave the way for a political solution based on a two-state solution.”
MFA Bourita and Mr. @yairlapid Today, a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a political consultation mechanism and two agreements in the fields of culture, youth, sports and aviation services were signed. pic.twitter.com/ut0DfEYlcb
-Moroccan Diplomacy🇲🇦 (@Marocdiplo_EN) August 11, 2021
“Innovation and Opportunity”
Lapid’s visit is the first visit by an Israeli minister to the country since 2003, and the first such meeting in Morocco since the United States reached the “Abraham Agreement” with four Arab countries (the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco).
Palestinian officials have Attacks on normalizing transactions, Claiming that the Arab countries have abandoned Israel’s long-term demand for abandoning land for the Palestinian state before it was recognized, thereby hindering the cause of peace and perpetuating the Israeli occupation.
The Israeli Foreign Minister issued a statement on Wednesday that these agreements “will bring innovation and opportunities to our country in the coming years and benefit our children – and their children.”
Rapid’s statement stated that Israel and Morocco are teaching their children the “power of hope” in a “shrunken” world.
He will become the prime minister of Israel’s eight-party coalition government in 2023.
Israel and Morocco have a long history of formal and informal relations. The ancestry of many Israelis can be traced back to Morocco, where there is still a small community of thousands of Jews.
The Israeli Minister of Labor and Welfare, Meir Cohen, was a member of the delegation. He was born in Essaouira on the Atlantic coast.
“For him, this is a homecoming,” Rapide said in a statement. In the future, Israelis “will not travel here as tourists. They will travel like family members to explore their heritage and memories.”
Israel and Morocco established low-level diplomatic relations in the 1990s, but after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, Morocco severed their relations. The two countries maintain informal ties, and thousands of Israelis travel to Morocco every year.
The Biden administration says it will Review the decision of the previous government Acknowledge Morocco’s claims to the long-standing disputed Western Sahara. The area was annexed in 1975 and was not recognized by the United Nations.
The visit came as Israel showed other evidence of the agreement moving forward. A senior Bahraini official was visiting Israel this week, where he met with an Israeli general and other officials.
Over the years, Israel and the Gulf countries have been quietly improving their relations because they have begun to see Iran as a common threat.
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