The first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight landed in the North African kingdom on Tuesday to mark the latest U.S.-brokered diplomatic normalisation deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner was on board along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat.
The U.S.-Israeli delegation was welcomed at the airport by Moroccan officials, ahead of a programme that includes a meeting with King Mohammed VI at the royal palace, and a visit to the grave of Mohammed V. The trip is aimed at showcasing the Trump administration’s achievements in Middle East diplomacy, weeks before Mr. Trump is replaced at the White House by President-elect Joe Biden.
Morocco became the third Arab state this year, after the UAE and Bahrain to normalise ties with Israel under U.S.-brokered deals, while Sudan has pledged to follow suit.
Speaking at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, Mr. Kushner said the country’s recent string of breakthrough deals marked a step towards a more normal co-existence between Jews and Muslims. “The state we have lived in for the last 75 years, where Jews and Muslims have been separated, is not a natural state,” he said before getting on the plane, which was painted with the Hebrew, Arabic and English words for “peace”.
