Israel and Morocco have agreed to upgrade their diplomatic relations by opening full embassies and appointing ambassadors in each country, nearly six years after they restored ties under a US-brokered agreement.
The agreement was reached on Wednesday during a trilateral meeting in New York involving Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the two countries agreed to elevate their diplomatic missions to embassy level and exchange ambassadors as part of efforts to deepen bilateral relations.
Morocco and Israel re-established diplomatic ties in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which also facilitated the normalisation of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
A joint statement issued by the three countries said full diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations between Morocco and Israel were in the interests of both countries and would contribute to regional peace.
The latest agreement also includes plans to restore direct commercial flights between Morocco and Israel before the end of 2026. The two countries are also expected to conclude agreements on investment protection and the avoidance of double taxation by the end of the year.
The governments further agreed to strengthen cooperation in areas including trade, technology, tourism, agriculture, energy, telecommunications and security.
The United States and Israel also reaffirmed their recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and backed Rabat’s autonomy proposal as the basis for resolving the long-running territorial dispute.
The decision to establish full embassies marks a further step in the development of relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv. A similar announcement was made in 2022 during a visit to Morocco by then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, but the planned embassy upgrade was not completed at the time.
The three countries said high-level reciprocal visits between Israel and Morocco would also take place in the coming months as part of efforts to expand bilateral cooperation.
