Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday obtained an invite from King Mohammed VI to go to Morocco, Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace stated, laying the bottom for the primary such high-level go to because the two international locations normalized relations in late 2020 and heralding a potential deepening of diplomatic and safety ties.
No date has but been set for the go to, however Israel’s nationwide safety adviser and Morocco’s international minister have agreed to coordinate on a date for the go to “in the near future,” in accordance with Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace.
The news was doubtless to provide Mr. Netanyahu a lift even because the insurance policies of his right-wing authorities — together with elevated settlement development within the occupied West Bank and a extra aggressive stance towards the Palestinians — have brought about pressure within the area.
The alternate between King Mohammed and Mr. Netanyahu additionally appeared to sign an easing of current tensions between Morocco and Israel. Morocco had postponed a long-awaited diplomatic summit with Israel this summer time in protest in opposition to the settlement coverage of Mr. Netanyahu’s hard-line authorities and amid eruptions of Israeli-Palestinian violence within the occupied West Bank.
King Mohammed wrote to Mr. Netanyahu {that a} assembly between them could possibly be “an opportunity to promote the prospects of peace for all peoples in the region,” primarily based on the ideas that “should guide the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace stated that the invitation got here in a “warm, personal” letter thanking Israel for its choice this week to acknowledge Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched elements of the letter, praising Israel’s recognition and its choice to think about opening a consulate within the Western Saharan metropolis of Dakhla as “both just and farsighted.”
The king added that Mr. Netanyahu was “welcome to visit Morocco on a mutually agreed date, to be determined through diplomatic channels,” because the king stated he had indicated in a telephone dialog in December 2020. The king affirmed that the assembly in Morocco would “open up new possibilities for bilateral relations between Morocco and Israel.”
Attesting to the rising safety ties between the 2 international locations, Israel not too long ago appointed its first navy attaché to Morocco, and a delegation of Israeli troopers and commanders took half in a world train of floor forces in Morocco in June.
The United States-brokered deal in 2020 that led to Morocco’s normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel included recognition by the Trump administration of Morocco’s declare to Western Sahara, the place the Polisario Front has fought for many years for independence.
Many Israeli Jews hail from Morocco and have been flocking to the nation on “roots” journeys in recent times. Yair Lapid visited in his function as Israel’s international minister in 2021. In May, Israel’s minister of transportation, Miri Regev, traveled to Morocco and signed bilateral agreements together with her counterpart there associated to points together with the popularity of driver’s licenses and maritime commerce relations.
Historically, Israel and Morocco have engaged in many years of quiet cooperation in navy and intelligence realms even within the absence of formal ties. The two international locations established low-grade diplomatic relations after Israel reached interim agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization within the Nineteen Nineties, however Morocco ended these amid the violence of the second Palestinian rebellion, which broke out in 2000.
Source: www.nytimes.com