Israel’s Foreign Ministry has dispatched a delegation to Morocco to urgently investigate allegations of grave impropriety at its recently opened liaison office in the capital Rabat.
The allegations include claims of sexual harassment and involve the head of the Israeli mission David Govrin, according to multiple reports in the Israeli media.
Israeli national public broadcaster KAN reported that the allegations also include the “exploitation” of local Moroccan women by a senior Israeli official and the failure to report a valuable gift from the Moroccan king to mark Israel’s Independence Day, which has since apparently disappeared. KAN also reported that Govrin has been embroiled in a row with his security officer at the mission.
The incident has raised concerns in Israel that the newly restored relationship between Jerusalem and Rabat could suffer as a result of the allegations.
Then-Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid inaugurated the liaison office in Rabat in August 2021 and Morocco opened a similar mission in Tel Aviv at the same time, cementing the resumption of ties between the two countries that were suspended with the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) in the summer of 2000. The two nations restored ties as part of the Abraham Accords, which also saw Israel form formal relationships with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan.