Israel and Morocco to Open Embassies
Israel and Morocco agreed on Wednesday to turn their liaison offices into full embassies and exchange ambassadors for the first time, closing a gap left in their 2020 normalisation deal, after talks hosted by the United States on the edge of the UN General Assembly.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a joint statement saying the three governments, “undaunted by regional challenges,” would raise the missions, name ambassadors, restore regular direct flights by both countries’ airlines before the end of 2026, finish investment-protection and double-tax treaties by year’s end and arrange high-level visits in the coming months. The meeting came a day after the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords signed under Donald Trump.
Sa’ar said the friendship of Moroccans and Jews had “deep roots and a rich history” and that Wednesday’s text set out “practical ways to upgrade ties.” The U.S. mission’s statement also restated American and Israeli recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over “the entire Western Sahara territory” and called Rabat’s autonomy plan “the only basis for a just and lasting solution.” Any other path, it said, “prolongs the status quo and is unacceptable.”
That bargain sat at the centre of the 2020 three-way deal: Morocco restored official contact with Israel; Washington recognised Moroccan rule over Western Sahara, which Rabat has administered for decades and which the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, claims as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Israel later issued its own recognition.
Since 2020 the relationship has been real and unfinished: liaison offices, some Israeli flights, often seasonal to Marrakech, and quiet work on security and farming. The statement also listed trade, finance, technology, tourism, water, agriculture, food security, energy, telecoms and regional security. Waltz had hosted an Accords anniversary gathering the night before with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Israel. Kazakhstan’s later accession is the main widening of the original 2020 group.
The text announced no new American concession and no larger package. It landed in a week already crowded with Gaza, Iran-aligned groups and Red Sea shipping risk. Morocco’s statement language also noted “special ties” between Moroccan monarchs and Jewish communities at home and abroad. Whether embassies, flights and tax treaties move trade and tourism is a later test. For this week the three governments have said the 2020 political deal should now look like a complete diplomatic post.
