Morocco, Israel Start ‘Great Light of Peace’
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Israel and Morocco agreed Thursday to normalize relations in a U.S. brokered accord that Israel’s prime minister described as “another great light of peace.”
Morocco is the fourth Arab nation to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in recent months, in deals backed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration. The others signing up to the so-called Abraham Accords are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.
As part of the latest agreement, Trump agreed the United States would become the first western nation to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
Morocco has been in a bitter long-running conflict over that area with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement seeking an independent state.
The White House said that Israel and Morocco will forge diplomatic and trade relations, including the immediate reopening of liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv, and eventually embassies.
The two countries had enjoyed low-level ties after 1993 when an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was reached. But Morocco later suspended relations following the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising, known as the second intifada, in 2000.
That will now change as Trump sealed the Israel-Morocco accord in a phone call with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Thursday, the White House said.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” Trump wrote on social networking site Twitter.
Mohammed told Trump that Morocco wants to facilitate direct flights for Israeli tourists to and from Morocco, according to a statement from Morocco’s royal court.
That was music to the ears of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This will be a very warm peace. Peace has never – the light of peace on this Hanukkah day has never – shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” he added. Netanyahu referred to the Jewish eight-day holiday starting on Thursday night.
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