Israel and Morocco have agreed to normalize their relations in a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump. The deal is the latest in a series of US-brokered agreements between Israel and the Muslim world.
White House officials told Reuters that Trump sealed the deal in a phone call on Thursday to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. Trump then hailed the agreement on Twitter as a “massive breakthrough for peace in the MIddle East.”
Unlike some of the Arab states, the west African nation, considered to be part of the Greater Middle East, was not technically at war with Israel. However, it has not openly acknowledge the existence of the Jewish state until now. Despite its public position of non-acknowledgement, Morocco secretly communicated with Israeli intelligence at several decisive moments during Israel’s conflicts with its Arab neighbors.
Under the new agreement, Morocco and Israel will establish full diplomatic relations and airline connections with each other, and “promote economic cooperation,” White House adviser Jared Kushner told Reuters.
In signing the US-brokered deal, Morocco follows in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in stabilizing relations with Israel.
Prior to the deal, some Moroccan commentators wrote off rumors of an agreement as far-fetched, in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
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