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US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Morocco will normalize its relations with Israel, thus making Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostility towards Israel in the past four months. As part of the agreement, Trump wrote on Twitter that he had signed a decree that would recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara.
US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Morocco has pledged Normalization of its relations with IsraelAs it did recently, three Arab countries are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan. Morocco became the fourth Arab country to set aside hostility with Israel in the past four months, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
Leila Odeh on the normalization of Morocco and Israel
Within the framework of this agreement, US President Donald Trump agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara, which has witnessed a decades-long regional conflict between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, a separatist movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the region.
Netanyahu welcomes “historic” agreement to normalize relations with Morocco
The Israeli Prime Minister welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu By normalizing relations with Morocco, qualifying it as a “historic” agreement, referring to the realization of “direct flights” between the two countries soon. In a televised speech, the Israeli prime minister “thanked” the Moroccan monarch for the “warm relationship” between the two countries.
Potential phone call
A senior US official said Trump reached the deal in a phone call Thursday with King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
Under the agreement, Morocco will establish full diplomatic relations, resume official contacts with Israel, and allow crossings, as well as direct flights to and from Israel for all Israelis.
Opening of embassies in Rabat and Tel Aviv
“The two sides will immediately reopen the liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv, with the intention of opening two embassies. The two sides will enhance economic cooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies,” said senior White House adviser Jared Kushner .
“Today, the (US) administration has taken another historic step. President Trump concluded a peace agreement between Morocco and Israel in the fourth such agreement between Israel and a Muslim Arab country in four months,” he said.
“Through this historic step, Morocco is building on longstanding ties with the Moroccan Jewish community within the country and in the world, including Israel. This is an important step forward for the people of Israel and Morocco.” the statement said.
“The agreement further enhances the security of Israel and at the same time creates opportunities for Morocco and Israel to deepen their economic relations and improve the lives of their people,” the statement added.
A statement issued by said White House Regarding the phone call that took place between Trump and the King of Morocco, the US president “reaffirmed his support for the serious, credible and realistic offer of autonomy from Morocco as the sole basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Occidental Sahara”.
“Consequently, the president recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara region,” the statement added.
Palestinian critic
Palestinians criticized the normalization agreements, saying those Arab countries dealt a blow to the cause of peace by abandoning a longstanding demand that Israel hand over the lands on which the Palestinian state will be established before it is recognized.
Trump is scheduled to step down from office on January 20, and consequently the agreement with Morocco may be one of the last deals concluded by his team led by Kushner and US envoy Avi Berkowitz before handing over power to the next administration led. by President-elect Joe Biden.
The driving force, for the most part, behind the conclusion of these agreements was the formation of a united front against Iran and the reduction of its regional influence.
Attempts to convince Saudi Arabia
Trump’s team tried to persuade Saudi Arabia to sign an agreement to normalize relations with Israel, arguing that Saudi Arabia’s signing would push other Arab countries to follow suit, but the Saudis showed their unwillingness. to move.
There is the possibility of a breakthrough on another level in the Middle East, as Kushner and his team traveled last week to Saudi Arabia and Qatar seeking to end a dispute that has been going on for nearly three years between Doha and countries in the Council. of Cooperation of the Gulf.
An important agreement was reached in this regard, but it was not at all clear whether this would lead to a final agreement to end the Qatar blockade. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and their travel and trade ties since mid-2017.
Although Biden will likely deviate the helm of US foreign policy from the path Trump took with the “America first” slogan, he indicated that he would continue to support what Trump described as the Abrahamic agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries.
France 24 / AFP / Reuters
