Moroccan King Mohammed VI sent new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a congratulatory letter on Wednesday.
“I’m happy to send you warm blessings and a wish of good luck in honor of your election as prime minister of the State of Israel,” the king wrote.
“I take this opportunity to emphasize to you that the Kingdom of Morocco is determined to continue its active role and good efforts to promote a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, which will ensure that all nations of the region live beside one another in security, stability and friendship,” Mohammed added.
Morocco announced that it would move toward normalizing ties with Israel in December 2020, making it the fourth country to join the Abraham Accords framework of establishing and strengthening relations between Israel and Arab countries. Israel and Morocco exchanged economic liaison offices, which were previously closed in 2002. There are approximately a million Israelis having family origins in Morocco.
Bennett thanked the Moroccan king for his warm wishes.
“Israel sees Morocco as a friend and an important partner in the efforts to promote peace and security in the region,” Bennett said. “I will act to tighten Israel-Morocco relations in every area, for the welfare and prosperity of both nations, which have a friendship going back many years.”
Leaders of other Abraham Accords countries congratulated Bennett earlier this week.
Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa congratulated the new prime minister upon taking office on Monday, the official news agency of Bahrain reported.
The prince expressed his desire that the newly formed government would succeed in its missions “in a way that would strengthen development, stability and peace in the region and the world.”
The United Arab Emirates congratulated Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in a tweet, saying that they “look forward to working together to advance regional peace, strengthen tolerance and coexistence, and embark upon a new era of cooperation in technology, trade and investment.”
The country’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed called Lapid to discuss “mutual cooperation and Abrahamic Accords,” according to the UAE Foreign Ministry’s readout.
They joined leaders from around the world who congratulated Bennett, including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the presidents of Ukraine, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and others, the chancellors of Germany and Austria, the prime ministers of Great Britain, India, Canada, Hungary, and Italy, among others.
Maayan Giloh contributed to this report.