Morocco and Israel are to open embassies and appoint ambassadors for the first time in the history of their diplomatic relations, under an agreement reached Wednesday in New York with U.S. involvement, nearly six years after the two countries restored official ties.
“We can help the Palestinians, humanitarianly, because we have these relations with Israel,” Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told Fox News after the meeting, arguing that maintaining ties allowed Rabat to take concrete action alongside its support for the Palestinians.
Bourita met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz in New York. The three sides agreed to upgrade the Moroccan and Israeli liaison offices to full embassies and appoint ambassadors. No names or opening dates have yet been announced.
The two countries also agreed to expand direct flights to include Moroccan carriers before the end of 2026 and finalize agreements on investment protection and the avoidance of double taxation. Reciprocal visits by senior officials are also planned in the coming months.
“The friendship between the Moroccan people and the Jewish people has deep roots and a glorious history,” Sa’ar said, adding that the agreement set out practical steps to upgrade bilateral ties.
From liaison offices to embassies
Morocco and Israel first established limited official relations in 1994, opening liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv. The offices were closed in 2000 during the second Palestinian intifada.
Official contacts resumed in December 2020 through a U.S.-brokered joint declaration signed in Rabat. The agreement restored relations and provided for direct flights and broader economic cooperation.
The rapprochement coincided with Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Israel followed in July 2023, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed King Mohammed VI that Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and was considering opening a consulate in Dakhla.
The September 16 agreement now takes the relationship to embassy level, something Morocco and Israel had never previously done.
Defense ties expand
Security and defense cooperation have become another component of the relationship.
In November 2021, then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Morocco’s minister delegate in charge of defense administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, signed a memorandum in Rabat establishing a framework for cooperation in intelligence, military training, defense industries and procurement.
Human ties predate the 2020 normalization process by decades. Nearly 265,000 Jews emigrated from Morocco to Israel between 1948 and the end of 2021, according to figures published by the Knesset, without counting their descendants.
Israelis of Moroccan origin today make up one of the country’s largest communities with roots in the Arab world.
Gaza strains ties without breaking them
The war in Gaza has put the relationship under pressure, with large demonstrations in Morocco in support of the Palestinians and repeated calls for Rabat to sever ties with Israel.
Morocco has nevertheless maintained diplomatic relations while continuing to back Palestinian statehood and provide humanitarian assistance.
Bourita told Fox News that Rabat does not agree with Israel on every issue, but argued that maintaining the relationship can provide practical channels for action.
In March 2024, Morocco secured a land route to deliver 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid to northern Gaza through Israel and the Kerem Shalom crossing. A Moroccan diplomatic source told Reuters at the time that Rabat had been able to secure the route because of its ties with Israel. The aid was then distributed by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz also highlighted that approach after Wednesday’s meeting, saying Morocco’s engagement went beyond diplomatic agreements and ceremonies and involved concrete efforts aimed at a more peaceful regional future.
The move to full embassies therefore caps six years in which Morocco-Israel ties have expanded across diplomacy, defense, travel and economic cooperation, while Rabat has continued to publicly support Palestinian statehood and maintain humanitarian engagement with the Palestinians.