Israel and Morocco agreed Wednesday to exchange ambassadors and open full embassies, formalizing a diplomatic upgrade that comes six years after Morocco entered the Abraham Accords, the normalization framework launched by President Donald Trump to reshape Israel’s ties with the Arab world.
The deal was signed in New York by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar alongside U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, according to Breitbart News. The signing fell one day after the sixth anniversary of Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates inaugurating the accords in 2020. Morocco joined roughly three months later.
Under the agreement, the two countries will replace the limited consulates they currently maintain with full-fledged embassies and exchange ambassadors. They also committed to reinstating direct commercial flights by the end of this year and to expanding cooperation in trade and finance.
A long-sought prize for Rabat
Israel and the United States also reaffirmed their backing for Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a priority Rabat has pursued for years. Morocco controls roughly 80 percent of the territory; the remainder is held by separatist movements seeking a greater share of the region.
Morocco has proposed an “autonomy plan” that would settle the long-running Western Sahara dispute by creating a self-governing region under Moroccan sovereignty. That proposal has drawn broad international backing, including a supportive resolution from the United Nations in November 2025, per the Breitbart report.
A joint statement issued Wednesday by the United States, Israel and Morocco framed the broader relationship in terms of shared interests.
“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 statement read.
Envoys celebrate, six years on
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised all three governments on Thursday, describing the agreement as “an important step to deepen diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco.”
Danon noted that the week’s events also brought together envoys from the United States, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Kazakhstan to mark the accords’ six-year milestone.
“Today, we continue to strengthen them through actions, not just declarations,” he said.
Waltz struck a similar note, casting the accords as a durable shift in regional alignments.
“Six years in, President Trump’s historic Abraham Accords continue to replace old grievances in the Middle East with strong new economic ties and opportunity,” Waltz said.
Sa’ar, speaking at the summit, invoked the historical connection between the two peoples.
“The friendship between the Moroccan and Jewish peoples has deep roots and a rich history,” he said, adding that the declaration signed Wednesday “outlines practical ways to upgrade ties between Israel and Morocco for the benefit of both peoples, and we will work to implement it.”
Will the Houthis push Saudi Arabia toward the accords?
Fox News asked Waltz on Wednesday whether the past week’s attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen might move Riyadh closer to joining the Abraham Accords — a prize the initiative’s backers have sought for years.
Waltz described the Houthis in harsh terms, calling the threat from the group unacceptable to the region as a whole.
“The scourge of terrorism from them is unacceptable to the entire region. They continue to act as a proxy of the Iranian regime,” Waltz said.
He added a warning about the group’s maritime ambitions, as the Houthis seek to seize Yemen’s coastline and blockade the Red Sea.
“You cannot attempt to punish the rest of the world to achieve a political end. The oceans, trade and international waterways must remain open,” Waltz said.
Saudi Arabia has signaled interest in the accords before, but has said it will not join until Israel establishes a path to Palestinian statehood — a condition that has kept Riyadh on the sidelines even as other Arab governments normalized ties.
Israel’s Ynet News suggested Thursday that the Houthi attacks could erode Riyadh’s resistance to a formal alliance with Israel. The outlet pointed to reports that Israel is quietly giving the Saudis intelligence-based assistance against the Yemeni insurgents.
Ynet speculated that dynamic was one reason Trump declined several requests for military assistance from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi-aligned forces in Yemen crumbled before the Houthi advance last weekend. Egypt likewise turned down a request for help from MBS, the report noted, as did Saudi Arabia’s nominal defense partners Pakistan and Turkey. Ynet floated the idea that Trump may have held out Abraham Accords membership as the price for helping resolve Saudi Arabia’s problem in Yemen.
The exchange of ambassadors and the embassy upgrades mark the most concrete step in Israel-Morocco relations since the two countries first established limited diplomatic ties. Implementation of the declaration’s provisions — including the restart of direct flights — is expected to unfold over the coming months.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2026/09/17/abraham-accords-progress-israel-morocco-exchange-ambassadors/