Deals cement normalisation of ties between Israel, Morocco
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Israel's Population and Immigration Authority director-general Shlomo Mor-Yosef (seated, left) and Mr Mohcine Jazouli, Minister-delegate to Morocco's Minister for Foreign Affairs, signing an agreement at the Royal Palace in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Tuesday. Morocco was the third Arab state this year, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to normalise relations with Israel under US-brokered agreements.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
RABAT • A US-Israeli delegation signed deals with Morocco in Rabat on Tuesday, cementing US-sponsored normalisation of ties between the Jewish state and the North African country.
The delegation - led by Mr Jared Kushner, adviser to outgoing United States President Donald Trump, and Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat - arrived in Rabat from Tel Aviv on the first direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco.
Morocco was the third Arab state this year, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to normalise relations with Israel under US-brokered deals.
The US-Israeli delegation met King Mohammed VI before the signing of a tripartite declaration lauding Mr Trump's Dec 10 decision to recognise Morocco's "sovereignty" over the disputed region of Western Sahara, widely read as a quid pro quo for Rabat's pledge to restore ties with Israel.
The declaration included a commitment to "immediately resume full official contacts between Israeli and Moroccan counterparts", with all parties agreeing to "fully implement" their sides of the bargain before the end of next month.
Mr Kushner said the visit had been "enormously productive".
Four bilateral deals were also signed on Tuesday between Israel and Morocco, centring on direct air links, water management, connecting financial systems and a visa waiver system for diplomats.
Morocco has North Africa's largest Jewish community of 3,000 people. Israel is home to 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin.
As part of the Morocco-Israel deal unveiled earlier this month, Mr Trump fulfilled a decades-old goal of Rabat by backing its contested sovereignty in the Western Sahara.
The move infuriated the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which controls one-fifth of the desert territory that was once a Spanish colony.
Mr Kushner said the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara was "rejecting the failed status quo, which benefits no one".
King Mohammed VI congratulated Mr Kushner for his "substantial work... which has led to the historic turning point in favour of Morocco's territorial integrity and this promising development for peace in the Middle East".
The US aims to open a consulate in the Western Sahara, and has pledged investment, which Moroccan media described as "colossal".
Israel and Morocco are due to reopen diplomatic offices.
King Mohammed VI has said Morocco will remain an advocate for the Palestinians. But the Palestinians have cried foul and condemned the normalisation of ties between Rabat and the Jewish state.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
