Israeli official and head of Israel’s diplomatic mission in Morocco, David Govrin, announced that a contract was signed to build the headquarters of Tel Aviv’s embassy in Rabat.

Govrin tweeted: “I am very happy to share this vision with you, which witnesses one of the historical moments I experienced with my team, as the contract was signed yesterday (1 August) to build the headquarters of the permanent Israeli embassy in Morocco.”

Despite the expansion of bilateral ties between Tel Aviv and Rabat in recent months, Rabat has yet to comment on this new development.

Israel and Morocco announced their resumption of diplomatic relations in December 2020. This was a result of the signing of the Abraham Accords, which saw a number of Arab states normalize relations with Tel Aviv, including the UAE and Bahrain.

Israel has signed more than $3 billion in arms agreements with regional countries since the controversial Abraham Accords.

On the same day, Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai landed in Morocco for his first official visit to the north African country.

During his five day stay, Shabtai will tour a number of police and security facilities, and meet with senior Moroccan police officials from the General Directorate for National Security.

“The police commissioner and senior Moroccan officials will discuss bolstering operational, intelligence, and investigative cooperation in order to strengthen the relationship between the countries and the police,” a statement from the police said.

Despite popular disapproval, Morocco and Israel continue to deepen their ties, on par with the relationship between Israel and the UAE.

On 19 July, dozens of human rights demonstrators marched in front of the parliament building in Rabat, in protest of the visit of Israeli Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi.

Kochavi lead a security delegation during his visit, as the National Actions Group for Palestine launched a series of protests, who described the visit of Israel’s Chief of Staff army as a “heinous crime through normalization.”

These protests also come as a reaction to a report published 19 July by Israeli news outlet Haaretz, stating that Morocco had “secret security relations [with Israel] for tens of years,” specifically in reference to their reciprocal acceptance of tourists.