And then there were four: US, MidEast officials welcome Morocco deal

United States officials, Israeli officials and notable figures throughout the Middle East welcomed the historic normalization agreement between Morocco and Israel on Thursday evening. Many Israeli officials spoke of symbolism of signing the agreement on the first night of Hanukkah. Netanyahu first thanked President Donald Trump for his efforts to “bring peace to the people of Israel and the Middle East,” and continued to thank Morocco King Mohammed VI in a live broadcast. “The people of Morocco and the Jewish people have had a warm relationship in the modern period. Everybody knows the tremendous friendship shown by the kings and the people of Morocco to the Jewish community there. Hundreds of thousands of these Moroccan Jews came to Israel, and they formed a human bridge between our two countries of sympathy, respect, of fondness and love, and I think this is the foundation that we can now build this peace between Morocco and Israel,” Netanyahu said. He noted that direct flights would be established between Israel and Morocco in order to strengthen relations. “The light of peace on this Hanukkah day has never shown brighter than today in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. Defense Minister Benny Gantz welcomed the agreement on his Twitter account.”I applaud the anticipated establishment of official ties with Morocco, which presents an opportunity to anchor the long-standing relationship between our peoples, and formalize a rich and deep shared history that goes back centuries,” Gantz wrote. He thanked the US officials who worked tirelessly to make the agreement happen.

On Thursday, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan spoke to his Moroccan counterpart Omar Hilale offering his congratulations. “Together with the US administration and under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, we are all building a better future for our children and for the world,” Erdan said. “And then there was 4,” wrote Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer on his Twitter account shortly after Morocco became the fourth country this year to normalize relations with Israel. He then thanked US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Middle Eastern leaders, too, recognized the historic agreement and commended the two countries on reaching the normalization deal.The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which Israel reached a normalization deal with a few months prior, commended the agreement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Twitter page, stating, “The UAE commends the US’ recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over all of its territories and welcomes the Kingdom’s decision to resume official contacts and diplomatic relations with Israel.”Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi wrote on Twitter on Thursday that he values the important step of normalizing ties between Morocco and Israel.Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa praised Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s decision to establish diplomatic relations and official connections with Israel, state news agency BNA reported on Thursday.The statement also welcomed US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara region.Earlier on Thursday, Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize relations in a deal brokered with US help, making Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months.US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft congratulated “Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco on their historic agreement to establish full diplomatic relations. Following similar agreements between Israel and UAE, Bahrain & Sudan, President Trump has again delivered on his commitment to peace in the Middle East.”The Israel American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) praised the agreement. “We commend the leadership of both countries in achieving this breakthrough, and we thank President Trump and his administration for facilitating this diplomatic development,” AIPAC said in a statement.  “A new era has arrived in relations between Israelis and citizens of the Islamic world. These diplomatic breakthroughs offer the promise of not only peaceful relations but also fostering economic prosperity and people-to-people cooperation,” the statement reads.The American Jewish Committee applauded Israel and Morocco, “the North African country, a close ally of the United States and home to a Jewish community for more than 2,000 years” in becoming the sixth Arab state to normalize relations with Israel.“Morocco’s announcement is further affirmation of the growing recognition by Arab leaders that establishing relations with Israel will be mutually beneficial,” said AJC CEO David Harris. Reuters contributed to this report.
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