Morocco: Normalization Aims to Maintain Special Relationship with Israelis

Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said, Saturday, that normalization with Israel was part of a desire to maintain good relations with Jewish people generally.

Bourita gave an interview to Israeli TV, at home on the phone, asserting that this decision to resume relations with Israel will not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause, but rather in favor of the two-state solution.

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Bourita also mentioned that Moroccan king Mohammed VI had decided to establish diplomatic relations with Israel as he viewed relations with Jewish people generally, and Israel in particular, to be “very important”.

Bourita added that the king maintained a “special relationship” with Israelis of Moroccan origin, pointing that celebrations, which had broken out in Israel after the normalization announcement proved this.

The Moroccan foreign minister also stated that his country would have “full” diplomatic relations with Israel, affirming that these would be quickly established.

In the same context, US Ambassador to Rabat David Fischer said that the United States adopted a “new official” map of Morocco which includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

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“This map is a tangible representation of President Trump’s bold proclamation two days ago, recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara,” Fischer said, according to a statement seen by AFP.

Fischer added that Trump then signed the “new official US government map of the kingdom of Morocco” at a ceremony at the US embassy in the capital Rabat, noting that the map would be presented to King Mohammed VI.

Morocco became, last Thursday, the fourth Arab country to tie relations with Israel in the last four months as part of the Trump administration’s “Abraham Accords” initiative.

Trump announced US’s recognition of Western Sahara as part of Morocco, which was considered a major diplomatic achievement for the country.

The Polisario condemned "in the strongest terms the fact that outgoing American President Donald Trump attributes to Morocco something which does not belong" to the country, namely sovereignty over Western Sahara.