Two Israeli passenger planes landed in Morocco, launching regular commercial flights between the two countries less than a year after they officially normalized relations. The IsraAir flight took off from Tel Aviv to Marrakech with 100 passengers on board. A few hours later, the Izrial national carrier El Al launched its first direct flight to the same destination. El Al said it intends to operate 5 such flights a week.
Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize relations in December 2020 within the framework of the “Abraham Accords” signed with the mediation of the United States. In addition to Morocco, they included 3 more Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. As part of the deal, Washington agreed to recognize Morocco’s claims to the long-contested Western Sahara region. However, the Biden administration said it would reconsider this decision.