On this occasion, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita held a video conference with his Israeli counterparts Yair Lapid and American Anthony Blinken to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the signing of the tripartite agreement between Morocco, the United States and Israel, in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
On Wednesday, Bourita said that Morocco has so far implemented the commitments contained in the declaration, stressing that diplomatic missions are up and running, agreements have been signed and official visits have been exchanged, in addition to that sectoral cooperation is on the “right path”.
The December 22, 2020 agreement drew a road map to activate the resumption of Moroccan-Israeli relations.
Among the most prominent provisions of the Abraham Agreement are the authorization of direct flights between Morocco and Israel, the immediate resumption of official contacts between Israeli and Moroccan officials, and the establishment of diplomatic relations, in addition to encouraging cooperation in various fields.
The first year of the return of relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv witnessed great momentum at the level of mutual visits and agreements signed in several fields, most notably the military field, where, at last, a security cooperation agreement was signed, which Israel described as “unprecedented.”
New old relationships
Morocco considers that the resumption of relations with Israel is due to the special ties that bring together Moroccan Jews in Israel in the Kingdom, who number more than one million Jews of Moroccan origin.
During his visit to Rabat last summer, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid confirmed that many Israelis view Morocco as part of their childhood and their identity because they lived in the kingdom they come to “as families and not as tourists.”
According to political analyst Ali Al-Harishi, Moroccan-Israeli relations are not new, but go back several decades, specifically since the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel began with the announcement of the establishment of the Jewish state.
For his part, the economic expert, Mohamed Charki, believes that the relations between Morocco and Israel have always existed, but they have not had an official and institutional character, noting that the Abraham Agreement gave the official character to those relations.
Balanced visits
Official visits between the two countries were launched in December 2020 with the visit of Meir Ben-Shabbat, the Israeli National Security Adviser, a Moroccan-born Jew, who signed the tripartite declaration, accompanied by former Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani and Jared Kushner, Special Adviser to former US President Donald Trump.
After the agreement, meetings were immediately launched between ministers and officials in the two countries, and memoranda of understanding were signed in several areas related to the economy, technology and water.
As for the diplomatic push, it was represented by the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to the kingdom in August, who oversaw the opening of the diplomatic liaison office in Rabat.
In November, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited the kingdom, which the Israeli side described as historic, the first of its kind for an Israeli defense minister to the kingdom. The visit culminated in the signing of a security cooperation agreement, which will allow Morocco to acquire high-tech Israeli security equipment, in addition to cooperation in operational and intelligence planning, research and development.
win win partnership
Last September, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita confirmed that Morocco and Israel are cooperating in several fields, including cyber and military security, revealing that the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries increased by fifty percent in the six months of the current year.
Bourita stressed that the resumption of relations between Morocco and Israel was very important for the two countries, as eight working groups were established on diplomacy, security, water, agriculture, and tourism.
For its part, data issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics showed a significant boom in Israeli exports to Morocco by more than 165 percent during the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, the economic expert, Mohammed Al-Sharqi, considers that the partnership between the two countries is based on a win-win logic, as each country has the qualifications that the other party needs.
Charki explains that Morocco is making progress in renewable energies, the agricultural field and the automobile industry, and it also has raw materials that are used in modern technologies, in addition to being an important market for traditional industry, especially for Moroccan Jews.
On the other hand, Morocco needs, according to the economist, the Israeli expertise in the field of military industries, modern technology, artificial channels and scientific research, especially in the pharmaceutical and agricultural fields and water valorization.
The signed agreements concern all the aforementioned fields, and it is attributed to the private sector companies in the two countries to implement them within the framework of a platform for bilateral dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.
The pandemic is hampering travel
The Corona pandemic has cast a heavy shadow on the mobility of travel between Morocco and Israel, as the new mutation imposed the postponement of the first direct flight between Casablanca and Tel Aviv, which was the trip that was expected on the twelfth of this December, before it was postponed due to the closure of the air and sea borders in Morocco to confront Mutant outbreaks.
The trip was expected to include a Moroccan delegation of businessmen in order to explore investment opportunities in Israel.
Two Israeli companies operate about twenty air lines towards Morocco, which receives a large number of Moroccan Jews. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nassar Bourita had announced that Morocco was waiting for the arrival of about one million Israeli tourists during the current year.
Serving Peace and the Cause of the Sahara
The tripartite declaration included a commitment to developing Moroccan-Israeli relations, and on the other hand included an American commitment to recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara, a recognition approved by former President Donald Trump and still valid under current President Joe Biden.
The US State Department confirmed a few days ago that Washington continues to consider the Moroccan plan for autonomy as serious, credible and realistic. The announcement came after discussions in Washington that brought together the heads of Moroccan and American diplomats.
According to Ali Lahrichi, a professor of international relations, Morocco is betting on the Jewish component in the United States in order to advance a solution to the regional conflict.
The university professor asserts, in a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, that the resumption of relations would also contribute to achieving peace in the Middle East, which is the common goal that other Arab countries aspire to.
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