People walk on a street, in Rabat, Morocco. Photo: Nawalbennani via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Twenty years after the closure of the Israeli liaison office in Morocco with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, envoy David Govrin arrived on Tuesday in Rabat to reopen the diplomatic mission.

Govrin’s arrival follows the unanimous approval by the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday of the US-brokered normalization agreement between the two countries. The agreement, which will be submitted to the Knesset for ratification, follows similar deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

The agreement between Israel and Morocco is part of a deal in which the United States will recognize the disputed territory of Western Sahara as part of Morocco, becoming the only Western country to do so. It also allows overflights and direct flights to and from Israel for all Israelis.

On Sunday, Israel officially opened a provisional embassy in Abu Dhabi, with the arrival in the United Arab Emirates of head of mission Eitan Na’eh. Na’eh, formerly Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, will head the temporary mission until an ambassador is appointed and a permanent site for an embassy can be found. In the meantime, the mission will operate out of temporary offices.