Another Arab Nation Recognizes Israel

Morocco is the fourth under Trump initiative
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 10, 2020 1:28 PM CST
4th Arab Nation Recognizes Israel Under Trump Initiative
President Trump in the Oval Office on Dec. 7.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Israel and Morocco have agreed to normalize relations, President Trump said Thursday, marking the fourth Arab-Israeli agreement in four months. As part of the deal announced near the end of Trump's term, the United States will recognize Morocco's claim over the disputed Western Sahara region, per the AP. Trump said Israel and Morocco would restore diplomatic and other relations, including the immediate reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat and the eventual opening of embassies. US officials said there would be joint overflight rights for airlines. The White House said Trump and Morocco's King Mohammed VI had agreed that Morocco would “resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability.”

“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations—a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” Trump tweeted. The US will recognize Morocco's claim over Western Sahara, the former Spanish territory in North Africa where a long-running dispute has confounded international negotiators for decades. Morocco is the fourth Arab nation to recognize Israel as the Trump administration seeks to expand a diplomatic framework that began over the summer with an agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates. Bahrain and Sudan followed suit, and administration officials have also been trying to bring Saudi Arabia into the grouping. (New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is no fan of Trump, but he likes this Mideast progress.)

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