SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 12 December 2024, Thursday |

Israel, Morocco to upgrade ties and open embassies, Israeli FM says

Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid said during a visit to Morocco on Thursday that both countries have plans to upgrade their restored diplomatic ties and open embassies within several months.

Morocco was one of four Arab countries – along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan – to move towards normalizing relations with Israel last year under U.S.-engineered accords.

Those deals also saw Washington recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, in a diplomatic boon for Rabat.

“We are going to upgrade from liaison offices to embassies,” Lapid told a news conference.

In similar comments to Israeli reporters accompanying him on a two-day trip that began on Wednesday, Lapid was quoted as saying that he had agreed with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita that the embassies would open in two months’ time.

There was no immediate confirmation of Lapid’s remarks by Morocco.

Lapid’s visit was the first by an Israeli foreign minister to Morocco since 2003, after the two countries agreed in December to resume diplomatic relations under a U.S.-brokered deal.

Earlier on Thursday, Lapid inaugurated Israel’s liaison office in Rabat and visited a synagogue in Casablanca.

    Source:
  • Reuters