Bourita and Ben-Shabbat also “discussed the huge potential of cooperation that will benefit not only Morocco and Israel, but also the entire region”, the statement added. Earlier this week, the Israeli government voted to approve the recently-announced US-brokered normalization deal with Morocco, which was signed on December 22, 2020.

It is expected to be brought to the Knesset (Parliament) for approval in the next few days. This was the third such deal the Jewish state inked with an Arab country last year. The other two countries are the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Morocco had severed relations with Israel in 2000 after the second Palestinian uprising. Sudan also has agreed to normalize its relations with Israel. The Jerusalem Post report said that Israel expects to reopen its liaison office in the Moroccan capital Rabat in the coming days.