Israeli foreign minister opens liaison office in Morocco

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RABAT, Morocco

Israel opened a liaison office on Thursday in the Moroccan capital of Rabat.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid published pictures of the opening ceremony of the Israeli representation office on Twitter. The ceremony was attended by the Moroccan Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, Mohcine Jazouli.

Lapid described the opening of the liaison office as a "historic moment."

He arrived in Morocco on Wednesday for a two-day visit as the first Israeli foreign minister to visit Rabat after the resumption of relations between the two nations in December.

During their meeting Wednesday, Lapid signed several agreements with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, on aviation, youth and sports and political consultations.

Israel and Morocco announced on Dec. 10 the resumption of diplomatic relations after they were suspended in 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada.

Morocco is the fourth Arab country to agree to normalization with Israel since 2020 after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

Egypt and Jordan have two peace agreements with Israel since 1979 and 1994, respectively.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat