President Trump announces another peace deal — this time between Israel and Morocco
President Donald Trump has announced another breakthrough peace deal between Israel and an Arab nation, making it the fourth time his administration has brokered such an agreement in the past four months.
What are the details?
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Morocco have agreed to normalize relations, which includes the immediate reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat, the forthcoming opening of embassies, and the allowance of joint overflight rights for airlines, the Associated Press reported.
The White House noted that Morocco's King Mohammed VI promised to "resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability."
Reuters reported that Trump sealed the agreement in a phone call Thursday with the Moroccan king. As a part of the deal, Trump revised longstanding U.S. policy and recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
Trump celebrated the achievement on Twitter, calling the deal an "historic breakthrough."
Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full di… https://t.co/LJcGF6u7uW— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1607616606.0
In a pair of separate tweets, Trump noted that Morocco had been the first country to recognize the United States' sovereignty, just one year after it declared independence in 1776.
"It is thus fitting we recognize their sovereignty over the Western Sahara," he said.
For decades, Morocco has been involved in a territorial dispute in the Western Sahara with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which Reuters describes as "a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the territory."
"The president reaffirmed his support for Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory and as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory," the White House said.
Before Israel was established in 1948, Morocco was home to a large Jewish population, many of whose ancestors migrated to North Africa from Spain and Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition. Today, hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews trace their lineage to Morocco, the Associated Press reported.
What else?
The agreement comes on the heels of three other separate peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.
More agreements could be coming, as well. During a September meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump signaled that "five or six" more countries were eager to end hostilities with the Jewish nation.
"We'll have at least five or six countries coming along very quickly and we're already talking to them," Trump said.
"They want to see peace," he added. "They've been fighting for a long time. They're tired. They're warring countries but they're tired, they're tired of fighting. So you're going to be seeing further announcements."
Also in September, Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to establish peace deals in the Middle East by a member of Norway's Parliament.