Antony Blinken Statement on One Year Anniversary of Israel Morocco Normalization

On Behalf of the United States, I am delighted my congratulations to the governments and people of Morocco and Israel on the one year anniversary of your normalization of relations. It was a diplomatic achievement that reflected your mutual commitment to enter a new era: one of greater peace, stability, opportunity, and understanding. In the year since you signed the joint declaration you have established direct travel between your countries for the first time in decades: nearly ten direct flights a week, up from zero a year ago. You have signed agreements that facilitated joint military exercises and increased your business ties. A new Morocco-Israel business council has helped create more than thirty partnerships across the tech, agriculture, water, textiles, heath, and renewable energy sectors. Discussions are under way to collaborate on desalinization programs and to create student exchanges on environmental sustainability. And your two countries have deepened cultural ties so that one million Israelis of Moroccan descent can reconnect with their roots and young athletes in morocco and Israel can train together. These steps are not just positive for Israel and Morocco, they are also positive for the region as a whole. We want to widen the circle of peaceful diplomacy further. You are showing other countries what normalization makes possible, how it makes it easier for countries to discuss shared goals and areas of disagreement open and constructively, pursue opportunities for your mutual benefit, and bring people together in friendship. That is why the United States is committed to supporting and expanding the Abraham Accords. We look forward to seeing your liaison offices becoming embassies in the near future. We are grateful for your continued efforts to deepen and strengthen the bond between two great partners and friends of the United States and we are committing to continuing our work together to build a more peaceful and prosperous region. Thank you.