Israel signs transport accords with Morocco

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev and her Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Abdeljalil signed three agreements in Rabat on Monday.

“I am sure that together we will strengthen the relations between our countries and in the Middle East to new heights,” Regev tweeted.

One of the agreements allows Israeli tourists in Morocco to use their Israeli driver’s licenses.

More than 200,000 Israelis visited the North African nation in 2022 as coronavirus travel restrictions came to an end.

An estimated one million Israelis are either from Morocco or are of Moroccan descent, including Regev.

In March, she signed a similar agreement for Israel and the United Arab Emirates to recognize each other’s driver’s licenses.

The other agreements Regev signed on Monday promote direct shipping between Israel and Morocco and create joint work teams to address issues of transportation safety and innovation.

Regev’s itinerary during her current trip also includes a ride on a high-speed train connecting Rabat with Tangier and a visit to the Tangier Med port complex located north of the city on the Strait of Gibraltar, the busiest port in Africa

Regev will also meet with local Jews. Around 3,000 Jews live in Morocco.

Jerusalem and Rabat signed a joint declaration on Dec. 22, 2020, announcing the opening of a “new era in the relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Israel.” Twelve days earlier, then-U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington had brokered a deal between the two Mediterranean countries and that the United States had recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

The Abraham Accords normalization agreement followed previous ones between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.