Israel, Morocco agree to open embassies, upgrade diplomatic ties

A tripartite meeting was held in New York between the Israeli Foreign Minister, his Moroccan counterpart and the US ambassador to the UN

  • PUBLISHED: Thu 17 Sept 2026, 8:08 AM

The foreign ministers of Israel and Morocco agreed to upgrade diplomatic ties including opening embassies and appointing ambassadors, according to a statement on Wednesday by the official Israeli government account in Arabic on X.

Morocco was one of four Arab countries to move towards normalising relations with Israel in 2020 under US-engineered accords. Israel separately has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.

The deals had fuelled Palestinian concerns on the viability of a long-standing pan-Arab position that calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood, in return for normal relations with Arab countries.

The statement said a tripartite meeting was held in New York between Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita and US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz.

The officials affirmed commitment to a series of steps aimed at advancing ties between Israel and Morocco, including "elevating their respective diplomatic missions to the level of embassies, and appointing ambassadors," according to the statement.

They also agreed to expand flights between Israel and Morocco and work on finalizing agreements aimed at facilitating mutual investments and economic and trade ties.