RABAT, Morocco (AP) – Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner led a delegation from Israel to Morocco on Tuesday on the first known direct flight as the two countries met in the U.S. As part of a series of brokerages, it was agreed earlier this month to establish full diplomatic relations. Generalization agreement with Arab countries.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Kushner has been monitoring diplomatic pressure, with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco seeing Israel normalize relations with Israel in historic agreements that have garnered him and Washington.
As part of the deal, Morocco, a small but centuries-old Jewish community that has long welcomed Israeli tourists, signed its 1975 annexation of the disputed region of Western Sahara to the U.S. Recognized.Is, which is not recognized by the United Nations.
The U.S. decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara has drawn criticism from the United Nations, as well as from Africa and its American allies. African observers say it could destabilize the wider region, which is already battling Islamist insurgency and transnational trafficking. Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, who serves as the UN’s ambassador to Western Sahara, has described it as “surprisingly secluded by international law and the principles of diplomacy.”
Israel has traditionally endorsed the UN position and has not said it wants the US to recognize Moroccan control over the region. Will join or not.
Joining Kushner was the head of the Israeli delegation, National Security Adviser Mir Ben-Shabbat. The two men were expected to meet with King Mohammed VI of Morocco and other high-ranking officials.
It will restore the low-level relations that existed between Israel and Morocco in the 1990s and sign a number of cooperation agreements, including the establishment of direct flights, said Lyor Hayat, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
“The goal is to move the relationship from a low level to a full diplomatic relationship,” he said. He said there was no set timeline for the process.
U.S. Adam Boehler, chief executive of the International Development and Financial Corporation, said he expects the visit to bring huge trade benefits by exposing existing ties.
“We have taken a lot of steps in view of investing in Morocco,” he said. “They are the gateway to Africa, they have been great allies of the United States, they have a great investment climate. So I think you’ll obviously see a multi-billion dollar memorandum coming out of this, but also announcing some individual investments. “
Prior to the founding of Israel in 1948, Morocco had a large Jewish population, many of whose ancestors migrated from North Africa to Spain and Portugal during the Spanish occupation.
Today, hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews are Jews who have traced their descent to Morocco, and a small community of Jews, estimated to number in the thousands, still live there.
During the 1990s, Israel and Morocco established low-level diplomatic relations, but Morocco closed its representative office in Tel Aviv in 2000 after the outbreak of another Palestinian-Palestinian uprising. Even so, the two countries have maintained behind-the-scenes contacts, with about 30,000 to 50,000 Israelis visiting Morocco each year.
Regarding Israel’s star, Kushner said he hoped the delegation’s visit would “pave the way for another warm peace between Israel and Morocco,” and draw attention to the emerging relationship between Israel and the UAE.
“History is being written before our eyes,” said Ben-Shabbat, whose family emigrated from Morocco to Israel.
Israelis of all backgrounds have celebrated the normalization accord decades later in which their country was overturned by the Arab world over its yet-resolved conflict with the Palestinians. Saudi Arabia is a regional power with close ties to Morocco, which has backed the generalization agreement and may be the next.
The treaties honored by Muslims and Jews after the biblical patriarchy was a major achievement of foreign policy by the Trump administration. Although President-elect Joe Biden has welcomed the agreements, he has pledged to pursue a variety of policies in the region, including the return of the U.S. to the Iran nuclear deal with world powers.
But the agreements are with all countries that are geographically far from Israel and have played, if any, a small role in the Arab-Israeli conflict..
Critics say they came at a direct price. Agreement with UAE paves way for controversial US sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets In the Gulf country. Sudan was removed from the list of US sponsors of terrorism, Much-needed U.S. And paving the way for international aid but part of Sudan Because they are negotiating a delicate transition to democracy.
The agreement with Morocco is a big shock to those fighting for independence in the Western Sahara and wanting a referendum on the future of the region. The former Spanish colony, Colorado with a population of 350,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
These agreements have also contributed to the intense isolation and weakening of the Palestinians by declaring the long-running Arab consensus that Israel should be recognized in exchange for concessions in the peace process.
The Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy to fight in Jerusalem, abandoned U.S. opposition to West Bank settlements, and accepted an alliance with Israel over the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 war.
The Trump mediator plan, written by Kushner, strongly favors Israel and would have allowed it to be held almost as far as East Jerusalem and one-third of the West Bank. Israel occupied both territories in the 1967 war, and the Palestinian people want their future state – a place with widespread international support.
Critics say the U.S. The recognition of Israeli control over the Golan and Moroccan control of the Western Sahara undermines a fundamental principle of international law – the prohibition against forcible occupation of territory. Proponents say the agreements recognize the reality on the ground and try to deport old enmities of the past.
Biden opposes the alliance and vows to take a more homogeneous approach to the moderate conflict, including restoring Palestinian aid and pushing for new negotiations.
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