President Herzog met with the Congressional Abraham Accords caucus immediately after his address to both houses of Congress.
WASHINGTON – King Muhammad VI of Morocco has invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with him in Rabat.
The invitation in a personal letter came on Wednesday, two days after Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara and said it may open a consulate in the city of Dakhla.
“The visit will open new opportunities to strengthen the relations between our countries,” the king wrote.
Netanyahu’s office said he would like the visit to take place “soon.”
A statement from the royal court said today, Monday, that Moroccan King Mohammed VI received from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informing him of Israel’s decision to recognize the Moroccanness of the Sahara.
According to the statement, Netanyahu assured King Mohammed VI of Israel’s position, “which will be embodied in all relevant actions and documents of the Israeli government,” stressing that “the United Nations, regional and international organizations of which Israel is a member, as well as all countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, will be informed of this decision.”
The letter also stated that “Israel is considering positively opening a consulate for it in the city of Dakhla, within the framework of consecrating this state decision.”
The Israeli decision comes within steps launched by Tel Aviv and Rabat to strengthen their relationship and expand it to include all economic, political, security and military fields. In another development, the Israeli army announced, Monday, in a statement, the appointment of a military attache to Morocco, in a step it described as “historic”, which will raise “the level of development of security relations between the two countries.”
“Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevy decided to appoint Sharon Etah as the first military attaché in Morocco, in a step that raises the level of development of security relations between the two countries,” he said.
According to the Israeli army’s statement, “the military attache will reside in Rabat and will undertake the task of developing and strengthening all security relations with Morocco, provided that he officially takes over the task in the coming months.”
The Israeli army described the move as “historic in the context of Arab relations and the State of Israel, with the appointment of the first military attaché in the Kingdom of Morocco.”
Al-J said that the step comes “the culmination of several steps witnessed in the past two years, embodied in the visit of senior military leaders and the conduct of a number of joint exercises, the latest of which was the African Lion, with the participation of the elite forces (of the Israeli army) on Moroccan soil.
“ He continued, “The military attache, Itah, is from the origins of a Jewish family who lived in Morocco.
He speaks the Moroccan dialect, and he visited the kingdom last year. Today, he occupies the position of commander of the Haifa Brigade on the home front in the Israeli army.
“ An Israeli military source said, “This historic appointment is an example of the depth of cooperation and the readiness of the two armies to build a long-term relationship based on mutual trust.”
In the first half of 2023, Morocco witnessed various visits by Israeli ministers, private sector officials and tourist delegations, including 4 ministers, 3 senior military officials and the Speaker of the Knesset.
On December 10, 2020, Israel and Morocco announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations after they were suspended in 2000. On the 22nd of the same month, the Moroccan government signed a “joint declaration” with Tel Aviv and Washington, during the first visit of an official Israeli-American delegation to the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
