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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Morocco Affirms Keenness to Establish Strong Ties with Israel (Photos)


Wed 23 Dec 2020 | 12:17 PM
NaDa Mustafa

On Tuesday, the joint Israel-U.S. delegation held high-level talks with Moroccan officials, including King Mohammed VI, according to Russia Today (RT) website.

The delegation is headed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.

During the meeting, Moroccan King affirmed his country's keenness to establish solid, full, and long-term relations with Israel.

Mohammed VI also added that Morocco will remain an advocate for the Palestinians.

 

On his part, Ben-Shabbat, on behalf of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, invited the Moroccan king to visit Israel.

Moreover, he affirmed that normalized ties with Rabat have more than just “diplomatic and economic” value to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis of Moroccan descent.

“Like me, the many second and third-generation immigrants from Morocco, who live in Israel, hold onto the belief in the heritage of our fathers and continue it,” Ben-Shabbat added.

Representatives of both sides inked several deals on visa exemptions for persons holding diplomatic or service passports, cooperation in the field of water, funds, and investments, as well as another agreement in the civil aviation field and direct flights between the two countries.

It is worth mentioning that, on Tuesday, the first direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco landed in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

The flight comes after the two countries agreed to establish full diplomatic relations in a US-brokered peace deal, which was signed earlier this month.

Israel and Morocco are also expected to reopen diplomatic offices and promote economic cooperation.

Earlier this year, Kushner also oversaw the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan. The agreements marked the first recognition of the Jewish state by Arab nations in a quarter of a century.