Israel and Morocco have agreed to raise their diplomatic representation to embassy level and appoint ambassadors, a step that would formalise relations restored in 2020 under the Abraham Accords. The agreement was reached on Wednesday at a meeting in New York involving Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, Morocco’s foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, and the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz.
Israel currently operates a liaison office in Rabat rather than a full embassy. The proposed change would bring the relationship to ambassadorial level for the first time since the countries renewed ties in 2020. Their statements gave no timetable for opening the embassies or appointing the diplomats who would lead them.
The countries also agreed to pursue closer economic and trade relations. They said they would complete agreements on investment protection and preventing double taxation by the end of this year. They also agreed to expand air travel by reinstating direct flights operated by carriers from both countries.
Both governments confirmed plans for high-level bilateral visits in the coming months. The US mission to the UN said that “the establishment of full diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations between Morocco and Israel is in the common interest of both countries and will advance the cause of peace”.
The Abraham Accords were a US initiative spearheaded by President Donald Trump during his first term in office.
Morocco’s agreement to join the framework was announced in December 2020 alongside a US decision recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Wednesday’s statement reaffirmed US and Israeli support for Morocco’s sovereignty claim over the territory and backed Rabat’s Autonomy Plan.
The new agreement follows an earlier declaration of similar intent. Israel announced in June 2022, during a visit to Morocco by its then foreign minister Yair Lapid, that the relationship would be raised to embassy level. The information released after Wednesday’s meeting did not explain why that earlier plan had yet to result in an exchange of ambassadors.
Morocco and Israel have had an uneven diplomatic history. They established low-level relations in 1994, though they did not exchange ambassadors and maintained liaison offices. Rabat suspended those ties in 2000 during the second intifada in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The restoration of relations in 2020 returned the two countries to formal contact, while leaving their diplomatic missions below embassy status. The latest agreement sets out the next institutional step and links it to commercial arrangements and air connections, though its practical timetable remains unclear.
The upgrade also comes amid continuing domestic opposition to relations with Israel. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Morocco have repeatedly called on Rabat to sever ties with Israel altogether. The statements from the meeting did not address those demands or set out any conditions attached to establishing the embassies.
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