As part of the agreement, US President Donald Trump changed long-standing US policy and recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Israel and Morocco agreed on Thursday to normalize relations in a deal negotiated with the help of the United States, making Morocco the fourth Arab country to sideline hostilities with Israel in the past four months. As part of the agreement, the US President Donald Trump changed long-standing US policy and Western Sahara is a desert region where a decades-long territorial dispute has pitted Morocco against the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, a separatist movement seeking to establish an independent state. in the territory. the deal in a phone call with King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday, the White House said. “Another HISTORICAL advance today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to maintain full diplomatic relations, a breakthrough for peace in the Middle East! ”Trump tweeted: Morocco is the fourth country since August to reach an agreement aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. The others were the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. Much of the impetus behind the deal has been to present a united front against Iran and roll back its regional influence. The Palestinians have been critical of the normalization agreements, saying that the Arab countries have done so. pushed back the cause of peace by abandoning a long-standing demand that Israel cede land to a Palestinian state before it can receive recognition. With Trump poised to step down on January 20, the Morocco deal could be among the last of his team, led White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and US envoy Avi Berkowitz will negotiate earlier. to yield to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden. Kushner told reporters in a conference call that it was inevitable that Saudi Arabia would eventually reach a similar agreement with Israel. Full diplomatic relations Under the agreement, Morocco will establish full diplomatic relations and resume official contacts with Israel, grant overflights and also direct flights to and from Israel for all Israelis. “They are going to reopen their liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv immediately with the intention of opening embassies. And they are going to promote economic cooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies, “Kushner told Reuters. Trump’s agreement to shift US policy toward Western Sahara was the lynchpin for achieving the Moroccan agreement and a major shift from a mostly neutral stance. Rabat, Morocco’s royal court, said Washington will open a consulate in Western Sahara as part of Morocco’s agreement with Israel. A White House proclamation said the United States believes that an independent Sahrawi state “is not a realistic option to resolve the conflict and that genuine autonomy “under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution.” “We urge the parties to enter into talks without delay, using the Moroccan autonomy plan as the only framework to negotiate a solution mutually acceptable, “he said. Washington had supported a 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the Western Sahara Polisario Front independence movement that called for a referendum to resolve the problem. Last month, after an incident at the border, the Polisario withdrew from that agreement and announced a return to the armed struggle. The Trump White House has tried to get Saudi Arabia to sign a normalization agreement with Israel, believing that if the Saudis agreed with other Arab countries. nations would follow, but the Saudis have signaled they are unprepared. One more advance is possible in the Middle East. Last week, Kushner and his team traveled to Saudi Arabia and Qatar seeking to end a three-year rift between Doha and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. A tentative agreement has been reached on this front, but it was far from clear whether a final agreement. to end a blockade of Qatar will be sealed. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt have maintained a diplomatic, trade and travel embargo on Qatar since mid-2017, though Biden is expected to shift US foreign policy away from Trump’s “America First stance. “, he indicated. The search for what Trump calls “the Abrahamic Accords” between Israel and the Arab and Muslim nations will continue. The news broke when the Jews marked the first night of the Hanukkah festival of lights, which commemorates the victory of Judah Maccabee in the second century BC. Followers in a revolt in Judea against the armies of the Seleucid Empire and the consequent restoration of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.