US President Donald Trump has said that Israel and Morocco have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. Since August, Morocco has become the fourth country to have an agreement with Israel.
Earlier agreements have been made with UAE, Bahrain and Sudan recently. Morocco has become the sixth member of the Arab League to improve relations with Israel, with Egypt and Jordan. Trump tweeted, “Today is another historic day. Our two great friends Israel and Morocco have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. This is a big step to establish peace in the Middle East.”
The White House said that Trump and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI agreed that “Morocco will restore diplomatic relations with Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to further regional stability.”
Under this agreement, the US has agreed to recognize Morocco’s claim on the disputed Western Sahara region.
It is the subject of a dispute between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which is seeking to establish an independent state.
The latest agreement between Morocco and Israel includes the reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat, which were closed in 2002. Then embassies will also be opened. According to officials, Morocco will start direct flights from Israel to the people of Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called the agreement “historic”.
In a televised address, he thanked the king of Morocco and said that there had been “cordial relations in modern times” between the people of Israel and Morocco.
Morocco has also confirmed the agreement by issuing a statement. Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain issued a statement welcoming the agreement between Morocco and Israel.
Palestinian officials have condemned the agreement. The people of Palestine have recently condemned the agreements between Arab League countries and Israel. They believe that by doing so the Arab countries are breaking their promise in which they said that they will not restore relations with Israel until Palestine achieves statehood.
However, the Moroccan king has said that this step will not affect his commitment on the issue of Palestinians.
The statement said the king had spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and assured him that he would not “step back from his role in defending the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
The statement said that the king has reiterated his support for the two-state solution.
