After concluding security and economic agreements, the two countries continue cooperation projects in the wake of the normalization of their diplomatic relations
Israel agreed with Morocco on Tuesday to bring in Moroccan workers in the construction and nursing sectors, during a visit to Rabat by Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, her services said.
The signing of this agreement was decided during a meeting on Tuesday between the minister and the head of Moroccan diplomacy, Nasser Bourita, according to a press release from the office of the Israeli minister.
“The goal is to start bringing Moroccan workers to Israel in the nursing and construction sectors within a month,” said Ayelet Shaked.
Israel and Morocco normalized diplomatic relations in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, a process between Israel and several Arab countries, backed by Washington.
In return, the Trump administration recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a vast desert territory.
The Western Sahara conflict, 80% controlled by Morocco but considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the UN, has pitted the kingdom since 1975 against the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
After a military cooperation agreement concluded in November, and an economic and commercial cooperation agreement signed in February, Morocco recently announced that it was considering collaboration with Israel in the field of personal data protection.
The Moroccan embassy in Israel inaugurated this summer
During his meeting with the head of Moroccan diplomacy, Ayelet Shaked “publicly gave for the first time Israel’s support for Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara”, according to the press release.
The Moroccan news site Le Desk recalls that Nasser Bourita is due to travel to Israel this summer to inaugurate the Moroccan embassy there. It is the Tel Aviv liaison office that will be elevated to the rank of the embassy. During the visit of the head of Moroccan diplomacy to Israel, the Israeli liaison office in Rabat will also become an embassy.
His visit to Rabat comes as the United States and Morocco launched the African Lion 2022 military exercise, the largest on the African continent, on Monday in Agadir (south), in a climate of regional tension with Algeria.
These maneuvers mobilize more than 7,500 soldiers from ten nations, including Brazil, Chad, France and the United Kingdom. Military observers from NATO and some fifteen “partner countries” including, for the first time, Israel take part.
Algeria, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, severed diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021, accusing Rabat of “hostile acts” and denouncing its military and security cooperation with Israel.
