Israel and Morocco have agreed to elevate their diplomatic ties by opening full embassies in each other's countries, following a trilateral meeting in New York between their top diplomats and the United States ambassador to the United Nations. The announcement marks a significant milestone in a relationship that was formally established in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords — a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan, as well as Morocco.

A joint statement issued by the US mission to the UN said all three parties believe 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." An Israeli foreign ministry statement added that the two countries had reaffirmed commitments to upgrade their respective diplomatic missions to embassy level and appoint ambassadors. A series of economic agreements is also expected to be concluded between the two countries before the end of the year, with high-level reciprocal visits planned for the coming months.

However, the announcement comes with notable caveats. No specific timeline was given for the physical opening of the embassies — an omission that echoes a similar pledge made in June 2022, when then-Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid visited Morocco and announced comparable steps that were never fully implemented. The move has also drawn domestic controversy within Morocco, where public opinion has long been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and where normalisation with Israel remains a sensitive political issue, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Morocco, a kingdom of roughly 37 million people on the northwestern tip of Africa, has historically maintained informal economic and security ties with Israel for decades, even before official normalisation. The Abraham Accords formalised those links, but the pace of implementation has been gradual. The establishment of functioning embassies would represent the most concrete and visible symbol yet of that relationship, transforming what has largely been a diplomatic framework into an operational bilateral presence. Whether this latest announcement translates into action more swiftly than previous pledges remains to be seen.