Morocco and Israel have agreed to take a new step in their diplomatic relations following a meeting organized in New York with the United States.
The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and the American envoy to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, met around a series of measures aimed at deepening the relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv.
According to information released by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reported on Wednesday, September 16, a declaration was signed on this occasion.
Liaison offices to become embassies
The most important diplomatic measure concerns the level of representation of the two countries.
Morocco and Israel have agreed to transform their current diplomatic representations into embassies and to appoint ambassadors. The Times of Israel indicates that this commitment is among the main points discussed at the New York meeting.
To date, the Israeli representation in Morocco is still officially presented by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a liaison office in Rabat.
The move to embassy status would thus constitute a new institutional step since the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2020.
Investments and taxation: two agreements expected before the end of 2026
The declaration also includes an important economic component.
Israel and Morocco have agreed to work toward finalizing, before the end of 2026, two agreements concerning investment protection and the prevention of double taxation, respectively. The stated objective is to facilitate investments and deepen economic relations between the two countries.
These new commitments extend the framework established in December 2020, when Morocco, Israel and the United States signed a trilateral declaration envisaging, among other things, the development of economic relations and the establishment of direct air links.
More direct flights
Air transport is also among the measures announced.
According to information attributed to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moroccan airlines are expected to operate direct flights to Israel in the coming weeks. The two parties have also agreed to increase air links and to organize visits by senior officials in the coming months.
Washington at the center of the meeting
The meeting was organized in New York by Mike Waltz, the United States ambassador to the United Nations. It comes in the context of the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, with Washington seeking to consolidate and expand regional cooperation mechanisms.
Gideon Sa’ar stated that the signed document presented “practical means” of strengthening the relations between Israel and Morocco and indicated that the two sides would work on its implementation.
The meeting comes six years after the process that led, in December 2020, to the signing by Morocco, Israel and the United States of a joint declaration formalizing the resumption of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Israel.
