Israeli delegates arrived in Morocco on Tuesday to meet with the king and renew his hammer on ties created by the White House in a foreign policy campaign split by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was joined by an Israeli delegation.
The plane that took the US-Israel joint delegation to Morocco
(Photo: Sivan Pereg)
They took El Al Israel Airlines in the first direct flight by commercial plane from Tel Aviv to Rabat. Both countries expect an increase in tourism on board these ties, especially among the hundreds of thousands of Israelis of Moroccan descent.
Morocco followed the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in moving towards normal relations with Israel. Palestinians have criticized U.S. breach agreements, seeing a long-held demand for demand that Israel meet their state demand first.
White House Chief Adviser Jared Kushner will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ahead of the trip to Morocco
(Photo: Shalev Shalom)
As the Trump administration has tried to isolate Iran, the treaties have been sweetened with promises of business opportunities or economic support. Israel’s new allies have also received bilateral benefits from Washington – in the case of Rabat, the U.S. recognition of its sovereignty over the Western Sahara region.
“This kind of agreement (with Israel) will help better interaction between communities and people,” Moroccan Tourism Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui told I24 television.
During the trip, Ben-Shabbat and Kushner will see King Mohammed VI at Morocco, Israeli officials said. Moroccan and Israeli officials also plan to sign off on connecting air and financial systems, visas and water management.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI will be seen at Essaouira’s ‘House of Memory’ in January 2020
(Photo: AFP)
The delegates ’plane, painted with the Hebrew, Arabic and English words for“ peace ”and a Maghreb good-luck talisman, received a low-key reception at Rabat airport. Moroccan officials describe their agreement with Israel as a renewal of middle-class ties that Rabat acquired in 2000 in close ties with Palestinians.
Israel and Morocco now plan to reopen “liaison offices”. Israel hopes these will be upgraded to embassies.
Asked if the countries could fully establish diplomatic relations before Trump comes down next month, Science Minister Eli Cohen told Ynet: “My understanding is that the potential is not high.”