Israel and Morocco have agreed to elevate their diplomatic relations to full embassy level, appointing ambassadors to both countries in a significant step forward in ties that were formally resumed less than five years ago. The announcement followed a trilateral meeting in New York on Wednesday between Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, and Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations. A joint statement issued by the US mission to the UN declared that "the establishment of full diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations between Morocco and Israel is in the common interest of both countries and will advance the cause of peace."
The two countries currently maintain liaison offices rather than full embassies — a status established when they normalised relations in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, a series of US-brokered agreements under which several Arab and Muslim-majority states formalised ties with Israel. Morocco was the fourth Arab country to join those accords, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan. Wednesday's agreement would upgrade those liaison offices to embassies, though no specific timeline was given for when that change would take effect. Notably, a similar announcement was made in June 2022 during a visit to Morocco by then-Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid, raising questions about whether this latest commitment will be implemented more swiftly.
Beyond the diplomatic upgrade, the two sides agreed to deepen economic and trade ties, with investment protection and double-taxation prevention agreements to be concluded by the end of the year. They also confirmed plans to expand air connectivity, including reinstating direct flights operated by carriers from both nations, and said high-level bilateral visits would take place in the coming months.
The timing of the announcement is notable: it came one day after the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which were first brokered during US President Donald Trump's first term in office and have since expanded to include several additional countries. According to the BBC Arabic reporting, the US and Israel also reaffirmed their recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara — the disputed territory whose status was a key element of the original 2020 deal — though no statement on this point had been issued by Morocco at the time of reporting.
The move represents the most concrete step yet in translating the 2020 normalisation agreement into a fully functioning bilateral relationship. With formal embassies and resident ambassadors, both countries would gain permanent, high-level diplomatic channels — a development that supporters say could accelerate trade, investment, and people-to-people ties, while also reinforcing the broader regional architecture that the Abraham Accords were designed to build.