US President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that Morocco will normalize relations with Israel making it the fourth Arab country to do so this year.
The president locked in the deal during a phone call with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, the White House said.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” President Trump wrote on Twitter.
The White House said that the United States also “recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory,” infuriating the Algerian-backed Polisario Front which controls about one-fifth of the vast, arid region.
Morocco joins the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in beginning to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, under the auspices of the U.S. united in their concern of growing Iranian malign influence in the region.
King Mohammed told President Trump that Morocco intends to facilitate direct flights for Israeli tourists to and from Morocco, according to a statement from Morocco’s Royal Court.
“This will be a very warm peace. Peace has never – the light of peace on this Hanukkah day has never – shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the Jewish eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah that began on Thursday night.