{"id":4903,"date":"2026-09-16T21:42:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=4903"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:42:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:42:38","slug":"morocco-and-israel-move-diplomatic-representation-to-embassy-level-but-moroccos-calculus-goes-beyond-diplomatic-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/morocco-and-israel-move-diplomatic-representation-to-embassy-level-but-moroccos-calculus-goes-beyond-diplomatic-representation\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco and Israel Move Diplomatic Representation to Embassy Level\u2026 But Morocco\u2019s Calculus Goes Beyond Diplomatic Representation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Following the agreement announced today, September 16, 2026, in New York, the Moroccan-Israeli relationship is no longer set to remain confined to the formula of liaison offices that had prevailed since relations were restored in December 2020. Morocco and Israel have agreed to raise their diplomatic representation to the level of two embassies and to appoint and exchange ambassadors, during a trilateral meeting bringing together Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz. The agreement also includes the development of direct air links, the completion before the end of the year of agreements on investment protection and the prevention of double taxation, as well as preparations for high-level visits between the two countries.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"rtl\">Morocco and Israel Move Diplomatic Representation to Embassy Level\u2026 But Morocco\u2019s Calculus Goes Beyond Diplomatic Representation<\/p>\n<p>\u0627\u0644\u0645\u063a\u0631\u0628 \u064a\u0631\u0641\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0642\u0629 \u0645\u0639 \u0625\u0633\u0631\u0627\u0626\u064a\u0644 \u0625\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u0633\u062a\u0648\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0641\u0627\u0631\u0627\u062a\u2026 \u0644\u0643\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0633\u0627\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u063a\u0631\u0628\u064a \u0623\u0648\u0633\u0639 \u0645\u0646 \u0645\u062c\u0631\u062f \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0645\u062b\u064a\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0644\u0648\u0645\u0627\u0633\u064a <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2B9gDQIp3p\">pic.twitter.com\/2B9gDQIp3p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Diplomatique.ma \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0644\u0648\u0645\u0627\u0633\u064a\u0629 (@diplomatique_ma) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/diplomatique_ma\/status\/2100338344416760234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The exact wording of the announcement nevertheless matters: what was agreed today is <strong>a decision to upgrade diplomatic representation<\/strong>, not an announcement that the two embassies have already opened or that the two ambassadors have already taken up their posts. As of today, the official website of Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry still identifies the Israeli mission in Rabat as the <strong>Israeli Liaison Office in the Kingdom of Morocco<\/strong>. The political decision and its practical diplomatic implementation have therefore not yet reached the same stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Rabat, that distinction is more than an administrative detail. Moving from a liaison office to an embassy creates a more complete diplomatic framework, but it does not change the particular nature of a relationship that Morocco has developed since 2020 across several levels. Nor does it turn the bilateral relationship into a file detached from Morocco\u2019s other interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The direct flights expected to expand in the coming weeks are not simply about tourism between two countries. They also concern a large community of people of Moroccan origin living in Israel, many of whom retain family, cultural and historical ties with Morocco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is where the human dimension of the relationship becomes more visible. Morocco does not look at this relationship solely as one between two states. There are Moroccan citizens, people of Moroccan origin who maintain family and cultural links with the Kingdom, Moroccan Jewish institutions in Israel and elsewhere, and a collective memory that Morocco has consistently sought to keep connected to its country of origin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The figures, however, require precision. The number of <strong>more than two million Moroccan Jews in Israel<\/strong> is sometimes cited in statements and unofficial sources, but it does not correspond to a stable official statistic that can be presented as established fact. Available figures vary considerably depending on the definition used: people born in Morocco, descendants of Moroccans, or people identifying with Moroccan ancestry. These categories cannot simply be treated as equivalent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">That statistical caution does not diminish the historical weight of the community. Morocco has a human connection with it that predates the political agreement of 2020 by decades and cannot be reduced to the relationship between Rabat and the Israeli government of the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is also what gives the move to embassy-level representation a more concrete significance. An embassy is not merely a diplomatic symbol. It is a permanent structure dealing with consular affairs, travel, individual and family matters, economic relations and the institutional contacts that accompany a more developed bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The economic agreement announced alongside the diplomatic upgrade therefore belongs to the same process. Morocco and Israel agreed to complete, before the end of 2026, an investment-protection agreement and an agreement aimed at preventing double taxation. These instruments are intended to provide a clearer legal framework for investment and trade. Expanded air links and the prospect of high-level visits add another layer to the relationship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">From the Moroccan side, it is equally important to distinguish <strong>the development of a relationship with a state<\/strong> from endorsing every policy pursued by its government. Establishing diplomatic relations does not mean that Rabat abandons its own positions on international issues. The Palestinian question and Jerusalem, in particular, remain part of the established elements of Moroccan foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The move to embassy level should therefore not be presented as the definitive conclusion of a process that began in 2020. It is an institutional step within an existing process, now accompanied by economic, consular, human and cultural dimensions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">On the other side of this relationship is a substantial community of Israelis of Moroccan origin. Its existence is a historical and social reality that long predates the current political agreement. That is why travel, air links, family exchanges and consular services may have practical consequences that extend well beyond diplomatic communiqu\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The fact that the announcement was made in New York, with a senior American official directly present, also places the development within the broader framework of expanding Moroccan-Israeli relations and the Abraham Accords process. Yet the decision concerning the two embassies remains an agreement between Rabat and Tel Aviv, while its implementation now depends on the necessary diplomatic and administrative procedures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The next stage will therefore be less about the announcement itself and more about what follows from it: When will the ambassadors be formally accredited? On what date will the two liaison offices become embassies in legal and operational terms? And, more importantly, what will the new economic agreements and direct air links actually produce for human exchanges between Morocco, Israel and people of Moroccan origin living there?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The political decision was announced today. The effective transformation of the two missions, and what that transformation will actually add to the bilateral relationship, now belongs to the phase that has begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the agreement announced today, September 16, 2026, in New York, the Moroccan-Israeli relationship is no longer set to remain confined to the formula of liaison offices that had prevailed since relations were restored in December 2020. Morocco and Israel have agreed to raise their diplomatic representation to the level of two embassies and to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43,42,41,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa","category-asia-americas","category-europe-russia","category-middle-east","category-the-maghreb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4905,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903\/revisions\/4905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}