Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked arrived Monday in Morocco for a string of meetings with officials, a diplomatic source said, as cooperation grows between the two countries after they mended ties.
Shaked is the fourth Israeli minister to visit the North African kingdom since the two countries re-established ties in a 2020 deal mediated by then-US president Donald Trump.
Her visit came as Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid agreed to dissolve their fraught governing coalition and trigger new elections.
Shaked, who visits until Thursday, is due to meet her Moroccan counterpart Abdelouafi Laftit, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Economy Minister Nadia Fettah and other top officials.
On Sunday, the Israeli interior ministry said Shaked hoped to set up channels for Moroccan workers to work in Israel’s construction and nursing sectors.
Morocco also announced at the beginning of the month that it was considering collaboration with Israel on personal data protection.
Morocco had cut relations with Israel in 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but re-established ties 20 years later in a deal that saw Washington recognise Rabat’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara.
Since then, a steady stream of Moroccan and Israeli officials have visited each others’ countries and signed a string of cooperation deals in various fields.
Lapid has been quoted by Israeli media as saying Morocco plans to open an embassy in Tel Aviv in the coming months.