Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held a phone conversation with Moroccan King Mohammed VI - for the first time since the two nations agreed to normalise ties, The Times of Israel reported on Friday, citing the Prime Minister's Office.
According to the report, Netanyahu invited King Mohammed VI to pay a visit to his country, and both leaders agreed to maintain contacts in order to facilitate the normalisation of ties in the near future.
Following the reported phone call, the Moroccan king's Royal Office issued a statement saying that the current developments have not changed the position of Morocco on the Palestinian issue.
Trump's Peace Efforts in the Middle East
On Tuesday, a US-Israeli delegation, headed by Trump's aide Jared Kushner and Israeli National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat, visited Morocco's capital of Rabat. During the visit, they signed a joint tripartite declaration.
In early December, US President Donald Trump said he brokered a deal between Israel and Morroco, which, apart from the re-establishment of diplomatic ties, entails the United States' recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Later, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US will open a "virtual presence post" in Western Sahara.
Trump touted the deal as a "massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East" on his Twitter page.
Morocco has become the fourth Arab state this year to normalise ties with Tel Aviv after in September, Bahrain and the UAE signed the Washington-brokered Abraham Accords with Israel. Later, Sudan joined the Trump-sponsored agreements.
The recent normalisation of ties between Arab nations and Israel apparently comes as part of a broader Middle East peace plan carried out by the Trump administration, in what appears to be the last days of President Trump in office. Kushner, who is the architect of Trump's aspirations for peace in the region, has expressed hopes that other Arab nations will soon join the peace agreements with Israel, including Saudi Arabia.
The moves, however, have been met negatively by the Palestinian authorities, as well as some other nations, including Turkey.
