Senior Adviser to the President of the United States Jared Kushner expressed, on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, in Rabat, his gratitude to HM King Mohammed VI for his visionary leadership, which places Morocco and the entire region on a very promising trajectory.
“I am particularly grateful to HM King Mohammed VI for his visionary leadership, which places Morocco and the entire region on a very promising trajectory,” Kouchner said during a press briefing after the signing, before the Sovereign, of a Joint Declaration between Morocco, the United States and Israel, by the Head of Government, Mr. Saad Dine El Otmani, Mr. Kushner and Mr. Meir Ben-Shabbat, National Security Adviser of the State of Israel.
Recalling that Morocco is one of the “oldest and closest” partners of the United States, Mr. Kushner stressed that the two countries, which have just celebrated the 243rd anniversary of the recognition of the United States by the Kingdom in 1777, maintain relations which are “more solid than ever”.
“We will never forget that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States,” said the senior American official.
On the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, Mr. Kushner noted that each of the American administrations, since that of President Bill Clinton, has affirmed its support for Morocco’s “serious, credible and realistic” initiative for autonomy in the Sahara.
By announcing his recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, President Donald Trump “rejects the status quo which benefits no one, and chooses to move towards a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, a solution that makes sense and which is more likely to improve people’s daily lives,” said the US President’s Adviser.
“Real autonomy is the only feasible option,” he said, reiterating his country’s call on all parties “to work constructively with the United Nations in order to move forward in the negotiation process”.
In addition, the senior official said that he waits “impatiently” for the opening of an American consulate in Dakhla “to further advance diplomatic efforts and reap the fruits of Morocco’s tangible efforts in favor of the Southern Provinces and beyond”.
It is high time to place the whole region and its peoples on a “path of real transformation towards greater peace, stability and prosperity”.
For his part, Mr. Meir Ben-Shabbat, National Security Adviser of the State of Israel, expressed, on behalf of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his “deep esteem” to His Majesty King Mohammed VI for his “courageous leadership and enlightened vision”, saying that he is “proud to be in the Kingdom along with an official Israeli delegation to establish relations with Morocco”.
He said he was convinced that the “links between the Royal Palace, and in fact all Moroccans, with the Jews of Morocco will constitute a bridge between the two countries, and one of the foundations of peace between the two peoples.”
The Israeli official said he was particularly touched by this visit to a country which saw the birth of his father and brothers, “as well as thousands of Jews of Moroccan origin”, stressing that the habits and customs of Moroccan Jews “are perpetuated” in Israel through the present generations.
Israel’s National Security Adviser stressed the “limitless possibilities” of cooperation with Morocco in the fields of aviation, creativity, science, health and agriculture, among others.
Speaking on this occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad Nasser Bourita said that the visit of the American-Israeli delegation constitutes a “historic and important event”.
It is an application of the elements of the telephone conversation between HM King Mohammed VI and President Donald Trump, which contained “historic and important announcements” on the recognition of the United States of the Moroccaness of the Sahara, the developments in the Middle East and the revival of cooperation mechanisms between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Israel.
The Joint Declaration, signed before His Majesty, will serve as a “road map on which the three countries will work at the levels of the question of the Moroccan Sahara, of Moroccan-Israeli relations and of the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East,” he said.
