Leaders of Arab countries who solemnly swore in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, more than 50 years ago that they would never recognize Israel, negotiate with it or make peace with it, are now overturned in their graves.
Six Arab countries, including Sudan, along with Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, have since established diplomatic relations with Israel and shattered the Arab boycott ring.
Morocco, the latest entrant, today marks the one-year anniversary of the US-mediated declaration of normalization. The fact that King Muhammad VI made the decision only after receiving an American promise to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara does not detract from the importance and uniqueness of this agreement.
There will be those who will claim that this is all about giving publicity to a branched network of contacts that has been going on between Israel and Morocco for decades, mostly under the radar.
After all, there were already diplomatic missions, which opened in both countries after the Oslo Accords and were closed in the second intifada, and reciprocal visits were made and there was a secret Morocco mediation between Israel and Egypt that paved the way for peace with Sadat.
But the story this time is much bigger.
Prime Minister Bennett with President al-Sisi, Photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO
Thus, for example, in the military field.
It is true that Israel also has security cooperation with Egypt and even more so with Jordan, and special ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, but Morocco is the first Muslim country to sign a public memorandum of understanding for military and security cooperation with Israel in many and varied areas.
Moroccans need intelligence and Israeli assistance with weapons, equipment, advanced technology and cyber to monitor the border and fight the Polisario organization, which fights for the independence of the Sahara and is supported by Algeria, Iran and Hezbollah.
And so it is in the civil sphere.
As Egypt and Jordan strive to curb any sign of normalization in mutual relations, Morocco, like the UAE and Bahrain, has opened all gates wide.
Direct flights are already active (the Moroccan airline will soon open the route to Israel as well), as well as tourist visits, trade, culture and sports exchanges.
And it should be remembered that on the way to full normalization of relations with Israel, Morocco had to skip a much higher hurdle than the United Arab Emirates.
Both because of the stronger Islamic religious component, and also because of its role as the "guardian of the holy places" in Jerusalem and the existence of an Islamic opposition to ties with Israel.
Hence the sensitivity on the Palestinian issue.
Haniyeh and Mash'al, Photo: E.P.
But the King of Morocco, with the encouragement of the United States and inspired by the "Abrahamic agreements" signed between Israel and the Gulf states, made the right decision to prioritize the good of his country over any other consideration. His foreign minister, Nasser Burita The Palestinian issue is important, but what is happening in Western Sahara is more important to Morocco.
Surprisingly, it was the Hamas movement, which is waging a war of attrition on every Arab factor that normalizes its relations with Israel, that sent the head of the political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, to Morocco after the ties between Morocco and Israel were renewed.
True to the new line, King Muhammad ordered his prime minister to meet with Haniyeh only in his capacity as party leader and not as prime minister.
On the other hand, Haniyeh, in fact the visit, proved that even the Palestinians understand that in the new reality created in the region after the Arab Spring - more and more Arab states decide to stop enslaving their interests in favor of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Were we wrong?
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