President Donald Trump notched another foreign policy victory when he announced that Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have “agreed to full diplomatic relations.”
On Thursday morning, the president called the deal “a massive breakthrough for the Middle East.” In a follow-up tweet, the president said that the United States will recognize Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara.
Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2020
Trump’s announcement that the United States will recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara further shifts a foreign policy map that has included recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
The Washington Post reported that Trump is expected to try to push through an arms deal that has been held up in negotiations between the countries.
Congress must be given 30 days to review arms deals with foreign governments that value more than $14 million.
President Trump announced a United States-brokered peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in mid-August. The Israel-UAE deal was widely praised, including by President-elect Joe Biden, who called it “a historic step to bridge the deep divides of the Middle East.”
In November, the State Department notified Congress that it was initiating $23 billion arms sale to the UAE in a package that included sophisticated drones and stealth fighter jets. That sale made it through the Senate this week, though Democrats fought to block it.
But those sums are dwarfed by the president’s $110 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia in 2017 — though fact-checkers questioned the actual sum of the sale.
House Democrats were able to block some sales after the Trump administration invoked an emergency expedition clause to justify quickened sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the summer of 2019. The Trump administration said that the weapons were immediately necessary in order to push back against the Iranians.
Further complicating the 2019 Saudi Arabia deal was the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was reportedly killed by the Saudis.