Morocco-Israel ties bound by shared history, made to last - opinion
Centuries of shared history will ensure that peace between Morocco and Israel will outlast its detractors
By AHMED CHARAIUpdated: DECEMBER 13, 2020 21:35POPE FRANCIS and King Mohammed VI of Morocco visit the Hassan Tower esplanade in Rabat, Morocco, last year.(photo credit: YOUSSEF BOUDLAL / REUTERS)
As a Moroccan citizen who has worked for years to bring Jews and Muslims, Moroccans and Israelis closer together, I was overcome with pride and gratitude after last week’s announcement of new diplomatic relations between our kingdom and the state of Israel. I was also struck by two ways in which some critics have detracted from the agreement or its authors – and in doing so missed key facets of what the deal means and says about the region.First, some observers have diminished the new agreement as merely the formalization of a de facto partnership between Morocco and Israel dating back 60 years. It is indeed the case that the two states have assisted each other vitally for decades: not only did intelligence and security cooperation help Israel defend itself in the 1967 Six Day War and Morocco win its Sahara war a few years later, quiet Moroccan diplomacy proved instrumental in fostering peace between Egypt and Israel. These and other fruitful partnerships stem, in turn, from ties of blood: one million Israelis are of Moroccan origin, and King Mohammed VI is designated “Commander of the Faithful” to both Jews and Muslims in his country. In recent years, moreover, the Moroccan government has worked proactively to revive the remnants of indigenous Jewish life, as well as promote Jewish-Muslim rapprochement globally.But the transition to formal relations was not inevitable. A third of Morocco’s population currently identifies with Islamist movements and parties that continue to reject Israel’s right to exist. “Anti-normalization” activism remains a prominent facet of our culture, which found expression fewer than five years ago in a parliamentary bill that would make it a felony to engage Israeli citizens in any way. In the kingdom’s vibrant, multi-party political system, steadfast political leadership will be necessary to see the diplomatic process through and ensure the agreement wins widespread popular support.Thus is not possible to fully understand the kingdom’s remarkable new decision without acknowledging a catalyzing shift: the role played by Jared Kushner as “creative disrupter” of decades of diplomatic convention. With Morocco now the fourth Arab country to reach new terms with Israel in as many months, it should be clear that Kushner’s strategic vision of a regional approach – so widely derided as “naive” – has born fruit. It behooves policy makers to examine and draw lessons from Kushner’s approach in order to build on it in the years to come.The second critique of the agreement relates to the American commitment included in the White House statement to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over Saharan territory – a blow to the Polisario separatists who want to create an independent state there. Some voices on the Left, portraying Moroccan claims to the territory as somehow out of step with international norms, have sought to paint this American concession as a dramatic change in policy – a game-changer, so invaluable to Morocco that the kingdom accepted the treaty with Israel as an offer it could not refuse.In truth, however, great powers have been drawing closer and closer to the Moroccan position on the Sahara since 2006, when the kingdom proposed a plan for the disputed territory that would grant residents autonomy within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty. Both the UN and the EU have touted the plan as “serious and credible.” Even Russia and China – longtime allies of the Polisario’s chief backer, Algeria – have expressed interest in a “political solution” that would draw from the Moroccan proposal. Small wonder that they have done so: while the Polisario enclave beyond Morocco’s borders remains a place of poverty and suffering and a hub of terrorism, the Moroccan side of the Sahara has seen billions in investment and become a desirable place to live. Thus the term “inevitable” may more aptly describe US recognition of the Moroccan Sahara than the Moroccan-Israeli agreement itself.Peace between Morocco and Israel will find its discontents, to be sure, both within the kingdom and elsewhere. But its firm foundation – centuries of shared history – will ensure that it outlasts its detractors. In my country, moreover, millions of young people have tired of extremist, xenophobic ideologies and want the opportunities and benefits which only peace and partnership can bring. They see in Israel a strong partner in developing their economy, spreading opportunity and securing Morocco’s future. For Israelis, meanwhile, Morocco is both a vaunted destination for tourism, trade and cultural enrichment and an anchor in the continent of Africa, where the Jewish state’s engagement has many countries more to reach. Palestinians, for their part, can take heart in Morocco’s distinguished history of support for their rights and welfare: as long-serving head of the Arab League’s Quds Committee, King Mohammed VI surprised no one by calling Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to assure him that the new deal with Israel would only strengthen his commitment to the two-state solution.So I thank God for this new agreement – as well as the people who made it so, from Moroccans, Israelis, Jews and Muslims of years past to the young, creative thinkers who struck the final hammer blow.The writer is a Moroccan publisher. He is on the board of directors for the Atlantic Council, an international counselor of the Center for a Strategic and International Studies, and a member of the Advisory Board of The Center for the National Interest in Washington.
