Morocco made most of the road to normalizing relations with Israel last month, but only pledged to open liaison offices instead of embassies.
Why it’s important: This decision led to speculation that Morocco was waiting for the Biden administration to back down Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara before going with Israel. He also disappointed Netanyahu, who hoped Morocco would commit to full embassies, according to a senior Israeli official.
Leading the news: The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, told Netanyahu last week in a call that he was committed to opening embassies as part of the next phase of the process, Israeli officials told me about the call.
- Mohammed also responded positively when Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat raised the issue of the embassy at a meeting in Rabat two weeks ago, which was also attended by Jared Kushner, Israeli officials say.
- An Israeli official added that standardization “was advancing very rapidly” and that it would eventually include embassies. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the story.
The state of play: An Israeli delegation is visiting Rabat this week to inspect Israel’s former liaison office, which was closed 20 years ago but is still owned by the Israeli government, Israeli officials tell me.
- Morocco also remained on its property in Tel Aviv and a Moroccan delegation paid a similar visit there last week to see if the office could be reopened soon.
- Morocco and Israel also pledged in their joint statement to initiate direct flights and to resume contacts at all levels of government. Since then, there have been several phone calls between Israeli and Moroccan ministers.
What follows: Israeli officials say the plan is for both sides to open liaison offices as soon as next week, in temporary locations if necessary.
- The United States also announced the opening of a consulate in Dakhla in Western Sahara. Deputy Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs David Schenker will visit Morocco next week to discuss these plans, the state department announced.
It is necessary to emphasize: Sudan formally joined the Abraham Accords on Wednesday, signing the statement the UAE and Bahrain signed in September at the White House. On the part of the US, the statement was signed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who visited Khartoum today.