The agreement announced in New York on Wednesday to upgrade diplomatic representation between Morocco and Israel from liaison offices to embassies and exchange ambassadors was the result of months of discreet contacts and negotiations, rather than a single meeting, several diplomatic sources familiar with the talks told Assahifa Arabic.
The sources said some of the meetings took place in the United States, alongside direct technical and political talks between Rabat and Tel Aviv, with Washington involved in key stages of the process.
The negotiations eventually paved the way for the embassy-level upgrade, the resumption of direct flights and stronger economic and trade cooperation. The agreement was announced following a trilateral meeting in New York involving Foreign Ministers Nasser Bourita and Gideon Sa’ar and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz.
According to the sources, the latest development revives a process that formally began on December 22, 2020, when Morocco, the United States and Israel signed a trilateral declaration in Rabat during Donald Trump’s first presidency.
The declaration provided for full diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, the reopening of liaison offices, direct flights and cooperation in trade, investment, technology and energy. It also included the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and plans to open a US consulate in Dakhla.
The Moroccan-Israeli track was slowed after Trump left the White House in early 2021, according to the sources. The Biden administration did not formally reverse Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, but several elements of the 2020 process, including the embassy upgrade and the planned US consulate in Dakhla, remained incomplete.
The return of Trump to the White House changed the context, as Morocco had meanwhile secured growing European support for its autonomy proposal. The sources also pointed to the subsequent UN Security Council developments on the Sahara as an important factor in the wider diplomatic environment.
According to Assahifa’s sources, the latest talks between Rabat, Tel Aviv and Washington went beyond the diplomatic question of embassies and included economic, investment, technological and defense cooperation. Bourita also held extensive talks with Sa’ar in the presence of Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Omar Hilale.
The diplomatic sources told Assahifa that the discussions produced understandings on expanding military cooperation, including new defense deals and investment in defense manufacturing projects in Morocco based on Israeli technology and expertise. They said this reflects Rabat’s broader objective of increasing local defense production and technology transfer.
The sources added that this industrial component was an important part of the negotiations, as it could move the military relationship beyond direct procurement toward investment, local production and technological cooperation.
The most politically sensitive part of the discussions, according to the sources, concerns the next UN Security Council stage on the Sahara. They said Rabat expects Washington to use its weight within the council to push for a formula that further strengthens the autonomy proposal as the basis for negotiations.
The sources said the objective is to make future negotiations more direct and focused on the substance and implementation mechanisms of the autonomy plan, rather than returning to previous formulas that left several options open.
In this context, the sources believe the next Security Council resolution could represent an important turning point in the diplomatic and legal handling of the Sahara issue.
The sources conclude that the latest agreement should be viewed as a gradual continuation of a balance of interests that began in 2020. Morocco seeks to consolidate its gains on the Sahara issue, Israel seeks to develop its relationship with Morocco into a broader institutional, economic and security partnership, while the United States is seeking to reconnect the different elements of the trilateral framework.
The latest announcement therefore goes beyond the opening of embassies. According to information obtained by Assahifa, it marks the beginning of a second phase focused on translating the political understandings reached since 2020 into diplomatic, economic and security arrangements, with the next UN Security Council discussions on the Sahara set to be a major test of that process.
The embassy upgrade itself is still a decision to elevate the missions, rather than confirmation that both embassies have already opened or that ambassadors have taken up their posts. The announced measures also include expanding direct air links, finalizing investment-protection and double-taxation agreements by the end of 2026, and preparing reciprocal high-level visits.
