The first historic meeting between the foreign ministers of Morocco and Israel has been held in Rabat. This is the first visit by a top official from the Jewish state since ties were normalized between Morocco and Israel last year. By the end of the meeting on Wednesday, three accords had been signed.
According to Israeli Foreign Minister, Yaïr Lapid, “today, we are changing this for the benefit of tourism and the economy, for trade and cultural exchange, for friendship and cooperation. This moment will improve our lives because that is what peace does. War ends life, while peace cultivates it.”.
Nasser Bourita and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed agreements on political consultations, aviation, and culture.
In his address, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said, “To support the momentum in cooperation, we created five working groups for promising sectors: research and innovation, tourism and aviation, agriculture, energy and environment, and trade and investment. These groups have held several meetings and have defined objectives and recommendations.”
Morocco was one of four Arab countries along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan to agree to normalize ties with Israel last year under US-brokered deals.
As part of the Donald Trump-led US-brokered agreement, Washington recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, where there has been a decades-old territorial dispute with Morocco pitted against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front