US-Israeli delegation signs deals in Morocco marking normalisation
A US-ISRAELI delegation signed agreements with Morocco in Rabat on December 22, cementing a Washington-sponsored normalisation of relations between the Jewish state and the North African country.
The visiting delegation, led by Jared Kushner – son-in-law and adviser to outgoing US President Donald Trump – and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security adviser, Meir Ben Shabbat, arrived in Rabat from Tel Aviv on the first di re ct commercial f l i ght between Israel and Morocco.
Less than two weeks ago, Morocco became the third Arab state this year, after the UAE and Bahrain, to normalise ties with Israel under US-brokered deals, while Sudan has pledged to follow suit.
The US-Israeli delegation met King Mohammed VI at the royal palace, before the signing of a tripartite declaration lauding Trump’s December 10 decision to recognise Morocco’s “sovereignty” over the disputed region of Western Sahara, widely read as a quid pro quo for Rabat’s simultaneous pledge to restore ties with Israel.
December 22’s declaration included a commitment to “immediately resume full official contacts between Israeli and Moroccan counterparts”, with all parties agreeing to “fully imple
ment” their sides of the bargain before the end of January.
Appearing alongside Morocco’s foreign minister Nasser Bourita, Kushner said at an evening press conference that the visit had been “enormously productive so far”.
Both Kushner and Ben Shabbat were received at the airport by Moroccan officials, albeit in a low key welcome far from the pomp of the delegation’s departure from Israel.
Alongside the tripartite declaration, four bilateral deals were signed on December 22 between Israel and Morocco, centring on direct air links, water management, connecting financial systems and a visa waiver arrangement for diplomats.
Morocco has North Africa’s largest Jew ish community of
about 3,000 people, and Israel is home to 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin.
Western Sahara
As part of the Morocco-Israel deal unveiled earlier this month, Trump fulfilled a decades-old goal of Rabat by backing its contested sovereignty in the disputed region of Western Sahara.
The move infuriated the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which controls about one fifth of the desert territory that was once a Spanish colony.
Kushner said December 22 the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara was “rejecting the failed status quo, which benefits no one”.