TEL AVIV –— As President Joe Biden assembles the agenda for his first Middle East visit since taking office, his administration is trying to coax at least one more Arab nation to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel, U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides said on Tuesday.

“My job personally is to go deeper with the countries we have, and the [job of the] White House is to go wider and bring more countries into the forum,” Biden’s envoy to Israel said in a webcast from Jerusalem organized by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, and the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation.

Nides dodged questions on an Axios report that Biden will fly to Israel in late June and convene a meeting of regional leaders to strengthen and expand the 2020 agreements mediated by the Trump administration in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco established diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. But Nides indicated that the prospect of brokering new Arab-Israeli relationships is tantalizing for the 79-year-old Biden, who often boasts that he’s met with every Israeli prime minister since his 1973 encounter as a freshman senator with Golda Meir.

“Wouldn’t it be great if Saudi Arabia had normalized relationships with Israel, and Kuwait and the whole region,” said Nides in an interview with Dan Shapiro, the former ambassador to Israel under the Obama administration. Shapiro was recently named a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council to work on the “N7” project that was started with Talpins’ sponsorship last year to promote normalization. “You’ve got to create the momentum. Every one of these is difficult to do. Our view is, the more the merrier.”

Nides, who left his post as vice chairman of Morgan Stanley to take over the top job at the embassy in Jerusalem, said dates are still unsettled while advisers grapple with how to make the maiden presidential trip to the Middle East a success. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced after a phone conversation that Biden has accepted his invitation to visit in the coming months.

“Each of these countries wants something from us and we want something from them, and they want something from the Israelis,” Nides said. “This little maneuver is not for the faint-hearted, but I think it’s well worth the time and the energy.”

Nides, a longtime Democratic fundraiser, said he has no hesitation in giving credit to former President Donald Trump for engineering the Abraham Accords. In following up on the previous administration’s achievements, he said Israel’s recent summit in the Negev desert created a “phenomenal opportunity” by bringing together the foreign ministers of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

Among his greatest challenges, Nides said, were violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli police last month on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, the sacred site revered by Muslims and Jews. He said the rare confluence of the Jewish festival of Passover, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Christian holiday of Easter focused attention on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and required intense diplomacy to ensure there was no repeat of last year’s violence that led to a missile conflict in May between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Nides credited both Bennett and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for preventing the situation from getting out of control.

“To be honest, we were pretty nervous,” Nides said. “We spent a lot of time trying to keep things calm, keeping the Temple Mount calm.”

A monumental prayer compound for Muslims, Jews and Christians — the Abrahamic Family House — is expected to open in the United Arab Emirates by the end of this year, capping a national project to inject some tolerance into the strife-filled Middle East, the Gulf state’s top rabbi said on Tuesday in Tel Aviv.

Extending the Abraham Accords to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, may take at least a generation because of the region’s entrenched hostilities, according to Yehuda Sarna, chief rabbi of the Emirates Jewish Council. “It’s not going to turn on a dime,’’ he said.

Sarna was the headliner at Tuesday night’s Israel premiere of the documentary film, “Amen-Amen-Amen,” which follows the winding path to the UAE of a gold-encased and bejeweled Torah scroll, by way of Israel and Brooklyn, N.Y. The glittering work of Judaica was presented by the rabbi and his community members in November 2019 to Emirati Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country’s de facto ruler, at his palace in the capital city of Abu Dhabi.

Directed by filmmaker Tom Gallagher and aired already on PBS stations in the U.S, the documentary recounts how Jews in the UAE prayed in a single secret synagogue until the government’s official tolerance directives in 2019 enabled them to come out into the open. Since the September 2020 Accords, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have packed daily flights to the oil-rich, desert nation as at least four fledgling synagogues hold weekly Sabbath services and kosher restaurants proliferate.

Several of Israel’s biggest banks, hospitals and venture capital firms have established  or explored joint ventures with counterparts in the Gulf. Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, allocated $1 billion of its $243 billion in assets to buy a 22 percent stake in Israel’s offshore Tamar gas field. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made an official visit to see the crown prince in December.

Emblematic of the Gulf monarchy’s efforts to foster religious harmony is the Abrahamic Family House, which is under construction in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island cultural enclave, neighboring the Louvre’s intricate geometric-domed UAE branch. The unique prayer compound, designed by knighted British architect David Adjaye and scheduled for completion in 2022, houses a mosque, a synagogue and a church, each of similar proportions with iconic facades reflecting the individual faiths.

“It will be one of the most magnificent synagogues on the planet,’’ said Sarna, a Canadian-born rabbi who is Jewish chaplain for New York University and its satellite campus in Abu Dhabi. Joining him at a panel discussion after the screening at a converted nightclub on the Tel Aviv beach were Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who is co-founder of the Gulf-Israel Women’s Network; Gallagher, whose Religion Media Co. made the film; and Jean Candiotte, a video producer and a leader in the Dubai Jewish community. Deputy Tel Aviv Mayor Zippi Brand, herself a documentary filmmaker, introduced the film.

“The opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people from the region to come through and see the first purpose-built synagogue on the Arabian Peninsula at a moment when many on that peninsula believe that one is not allowed to construct anything except for mosques on that peninsula is a very powerful symbol,’’ Sarna said.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday sought to soothe tensions over recent violence in Jerusalem by inviting Arab diplomats to break the daily Ramadan fast at his office compound in Tel Aviv.

Over a traditional Iftar dinner, Gantz asked envoys from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt to relay to their leaders that Israel is “taking unprecedented steps to enable freedom of worship,” according to a Defense Ministry statement. He said “extremists” are to blame for restrictions that have triggered clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, a site held sacred by both Muslims and Jews that is known in Arabic as the Haram Sharif.

The conflict, which has flared for weeks and included Israeli-Palestinian confrontations in Gaza and the West Bank, has been condemned across the Arab world, including by the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, all three of which normalized relations with Israel in 2020. A year ago, tensions over Jerusalem led to an 11-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sissi convened a summit in Cairo on Sunday  with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in which the three leaders expressed their “readiness to exert all efforts to restore calm in Jerusalem, end all forms of escalation and remove obstacles impeding worshippers’ access.”

In his remarks to the Arab diplomats on Monday, Gantz hailed the Abraham Accords while warning about the nuclear threat from Iran.

“Israel values freedom of worship and we will do everything in our capacity to enable it, while an extremist group — the minority — aims to harm it,” Gantz said. “It is important for us that this message is brought to the leaders of your countries.”

Guests at the Iftar meal in Tel Aviv included Moroccan Ambassador Abderrahim Bayoud, UAE Ambassador Mohamed Al Khaja, Bahraini Deputy Head of Mission Abdulkarim Ebrahim Alanansari and Egyptian Embassy Counsellor Walid Talaat Mahdy.

Also at the table were Jonathan Shrier, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and two Israeli lawmakers — Ruth Wasserman Lande of Gantz’s Blue & White party and Likud’s Ofir Akunis, the co-leaders of a Knesset caucus set up to support the Abraham Accords. No Jordanian representative was listed in the Defense Ministry statement.

Israelis should feel confident about their newfound ties with the United Arab Emirates and be assured that the normalization process ignited by the Abraham Accords is based on core Emirati values that do not stem from any special or fleeting transaction with the United States, the newly appointed UAE ambassador to the Vatican, Omar Ghobash, told The Circuit in a recent interview.

“It’s something that comes up a lot,” said Ghobash, who is currently assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy, referencing some cynical voices that still question the genuineness of the 18-month-old Accords. “It’s actually a principled decision that comes right from the core of the royal family.”

Speaking to JI on the sidelines of the recent Jewish Funders Network Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Ghobash, 50, who is a well-known diplomat, businessman and author in his own country, will soon be at the forefront of interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in the Vatican as his country leads a historic process in the Arab world to encourage peaceful relations with the world’s only Jewish state.

Ghobash explained that because the UAE is a “leadership organized society,” everyone looks to the royals for guidance, and his fellow countrymen have chosen to embrace the historic steps taken over the past two years by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, better known by his initials, MBZ.

While clandestine relations between Israel and several Arab countries – mainly based on security cooperation – were a badly kept secret for more than a decade, the public declarations by the UAE and Bahrain in September 2020 to recognize Israel were seen as bold moves. 

The Accords paved the way for Sudan and Morocco to normalize ties with Israel months later and, over the past year, the so-called cold peace agreements Israel has held for decades with Egypt and Jordan have begun to thaw. There is now speculation that the process could draw in other Middle East and Muslim states, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia — and maybe even the Palestinians.

“We know that life is short, and we have a remarkable opportunity in the Emirates to take the country to the next stage, we’ve got an ambitious leadership and a whole bunch of great kids,” said Ghobash, author of the 2018 acclaimed book, Letters to a Young Muslim, which reflects on challenges of faith, culture and society through a series of letters.

“The way I see it is that we’re allying and aligning ourselves with other nations that actually want to build and prosper,” the ambassador continued. “While on the other side are negative players who are manipulative and destructive.”

Ghobash also said that those who have been critical of the Abraham Accords or downplayed their significance do not understand that the Gulf nation was “breaking with the biggest taboo we’ve ever had in our history – to recognize Israel, to recognize the Jew, to recognize this country and to want to work with them publicly. It is a massive thing for us.”

“The lack of seriousness that is attributed to the Abraham Accords by certain parties and groups has really surprised me; it’s almost offensive for us,” he emphasized.

The son of the UAE’s first minister of state for foreign affairs, Saif Ghobash, who was assassinated in a 1977 terrorist attack, the younger Ghobash – who himself is now a seasoned diplomat after serving for more than a decade as the UAE’s envoy in Russia and Paris, respectively – said his country could learn a great deal from Israelis, especially “how to get things done.”

“We are also getting things done in the Emirates, but there are certain areas such as education, government and the private sector where Israelis can offer us examples of how to better involve young people,” he observed.

However, Ghobash cautioned, Israelis need to slow down and have more confidence in the emerging ties. After decades of regional isolation, Israelis have welcomed the Accords with a rush of activities, and there is an unspoken pressure to cement the relationship as fast as possible, in case the window of opportunity closes — as it has with other Arab states. In less than a year, most of Israel’s top leaders have already paid official visits to the Gulf state, while tens of thousands of Israeli tourists and businesspeople have flocked to Dubai and Abu Dhabi seeking shopping and new opportunities.

While Emiratis are also curious about Israel, with many expressing a desire to visit the Jewish state and a handful of senior officials making the trip, overall they appear more cautious. Ghobash suggested the differing approaches were because “Israelis were totally ready for peace,” while the Arab world was less prepared for the process happening when it did.

“Now, all of a sudden, we are at peace and there are expectations… it’s all a bit mind-boggling. What exactly are we supposed to do now?” he mused.

Ghobash also said that the “thrusting” character of many Israelis makes some of his fellow countrymen uncomfortable. “When faced with people pushing us, we feel like we’re being managed, and we don’t like to feel that way,” he said.

“We like to feel that we have all the time in the world to make a decision,” explained Ghobash. “Just because you’re in a hurry doesn’t mean that we’re in a hurry, so this process is there, it will just take a little more time for us.”

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer is set to join the Jerusalem-based investment firm Exigent Capital Group this month as a senior partner, The Circuit has learned. Dermer, who spent eight years as Israel’s envoy in Washington during the term of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told The Circuit that he will draw on the partnerships he forged as one of the key architects of the Abraham Accords to help develop Exigent’s outreach with strategic partners around the world and, particularly, in the Gulf.

“There’s a lot of goodwill from the top-down and from the bottom-up to develop people-to-people peace,” said Dermer, who is in the midst of a month-long speaking tour in the U.S., of the Accords signed by Israel, the UAE and Bahrain in September 2020, with Sudan and Morocco inking separate normalization agreements with Israel in the following months.

“There are a lot of wealthy people in the Gulf and while those looking to only raise money might be successful, I think that such an approach is very limiting,” he told The Circuit. “I want to create a situation where entrepreneurs from Israel and the Gulf set up shop together, build joint ventures – and maybe even the Saudis will join – and that will really be a game-changer in the Arab world.”

“If you do this at the highest level and have the trust of leadership, then the sky is the limit,” Dermer continued, adding that one of his goals is to “anchor the peace in a way that wasn’t done with Egypt and Jordan.” He suggested that such an effort could even “turn the cold peace Israel has with Egypt and Jordan into a hot peace.”

A native of Miami Beach, Fla., Dermer made Aliyah in the early 1990s and is known as one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers. During his tenure as ambassador, he was considered to have been the driving force behind some of the most important diplomatic developments that have taken place in recent years, including securing long-term military assistance and missile defense funding for Israel, moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, gaining U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, implementing maximum pressure against Iran, and achieving the historic Abraham Accords.

Dermer said that he was approached by multiple companies and organizations following his return to Israel a year ago, but was most drawn to Exigent, a multi-strategy investment manager with a focus on early and late-stage venture capital, private equity, distressed debt and turnarounds, real estate, financial markets arbitrage, and fund sponsorships, because of the firm’s top-notch leadership team and the quality of its global investments.

“They have been working quietly and under the radar, but I like their track record,” Dermer explained. “They are grounded, but ambitious and want to grow their portfolios, I am happy to be with them and help them grow.”

Eliezer Brender, Exigent’s CEO, told The Circuit that bringing someone of “Ambassador Dermer’s caliber on board,” was a strategic move for the company, which is made up of professionals drawn from major financial institutions worldwide. He said the company was looking to grow its operations globally and in the region, as well as become a leader in boosting the diplomatic process sparked by the Abraham Accords.

“They already had some relationships in the Gulf before I joined but the thinking is that I can really add value,” commented Dermer. “The way I look at investments in the Gulf is really as a long-term relationship and when you have trust at the highest level then you can really build something fantastic.”

As Dermer, who holds a degree in finance and management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, moves into the world of trade and investments, he told The Circuit that he will still dabble in diplomacy and geopolitics.

Since returning to Israel, he has been working as a non-resident distinguished fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)’s Gemunder Center for Defense & Strategy, and last month launched a podcast, “Diplomatically Incorrect,” together with JINSA’s president and CEO, Michael Makovsky.

In addition, Dermer is working on an academic book that explores the drivers of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Israel-Diaspora affairs and some of the existential threats Israel faces as Iran draws closer to becoming a nuclear power.

“The business thing for me will not be 100 percent of my time,” the former envoy concluded. “I will continue to speak in person and on the podcast, weighing in on important global issues.”

Emirati investor Sabah al-Binali is a seasoned financial services executive, but 18 months after the Abraham Accords, he is adding another, albeit informal, role to his already impressive portfolio: business ambassador.

“People call me for advice from both sides,” al-Binali, partner and executive chairman of OurCrowd Arabia, one of the largest global venture investing platforms based in Jerusalem, told The Circuit of his work connecting Israeli and Emirati companies. Trade and investments between the two countries are already flourishing, reaching an estimated over $600-$700 million within the first year. In September, Emirati Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri predicted that economic activity with Israel could reach more than $1 trillion over the next decade.

“I get Emirati businessmen asking me, ‘How do I manage this guy, he’s calling three times a day?’” said al-Binali, who forged close ties with Jewish and Israeli peers as an undergraduate student at Princeton University. “I tell him, be direct, say, ‘Don’t call me three times a day, I’ll get back to you about this point.’”

And he also has a message for Israelis eyeing business opportunities in the Gulf too: slow down – and prioritize hiring those with experience working with Emiratis, who can help to navigate cultural differences.

“I know I’m generalizing here, but Israelis have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and are quick decision-makers, while in the UAE, you have good, long-term strategic thinking,” said al-Binali, adding, “If we can synergize this fast-decision-making entrepreneurial spirit with the thoughtful, strategic thinking, then it could be the best partnership in the world — it could be unbelievable.”

Finding a way to bridge these contrasting business styles is exactly what al-Binali, who took up the position of executive chairman just a few weeks after the normalization agreements were signed in September 2020, is trying to do for OurCrowd and for the Abraham Accords.

This week, foreign ministers from Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt, as well as Secretary of State Tony Blinken, held a historic diplomatic summit in Israel’s Negev desert. 

Al-Binali, who is considered one of the most senior Emirati nationals operating on behalf of an Israeli venture capital firm, says the next step is creating similar interaction in the business realm.

But first, he told The Circuit, some key misconceptions and even a level of mistrust must be addressed and dispelled.  

In August 2020, when he first began talking to OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved about taking on the unprecedented role, al-Binali told him, “If you’re going to have this view that you go to the UAE to raise money, then I am the wrong person for the job, and you’ll probably not raise even one cent.”

“I think we’ve got to get away from this fantasy that the opportunity here is money coming from the UAE and technology coming from Israel,” Binali continued. “Israeli startups are drowning in money and so, you know, without being cynical, if that’s what people are looking at as the opportunity, I believe, they will be disappointed.”

Instead, he said, the countries can be mutually beneficial to one another on multiple levels. al-Binali believes that Israel and the UAE can serve as a gateway for one another. The Emiratis, who are active in Africa and Southeast Asia, can open up new markets for Israel. And Israel’s close ties with the U.S. are attractive for Emirati companies. 

On another level, the two markets can become a testing ground for new innovation. Al-Binali points out that similarities in size and scale between the two Middle Eastern states makes them ideal partners.

“Some Israeli startups are fortunate enough to start commercializing in the States, and obviously the big market is where everyone wants to go, but there are also many that just can’t make that big jump from Israel to the U.S., so it makes sense for them to use the UAE as a gateway to other countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Southeast Asia,” he said, giving the example of some medtech companies currently carrying out clinical trials in the UAE.

And as for the question of whether a slew of lucrative deals will open up markets in countries who have not yet normalized ties with Israel, such as Saudi Arabia, al-Binali is certain that it is only a matter of time.

“There’s clear curiosity,” he said, describing how businesspeople from those countries, including Saudi Arabia, are expressing an interest in meeting with their Israeli counterparts in the UAE.

“I’ve seen it in Dubai, Saudis who are visiting want to start having that discussion.”

Despite the long antipathy between Jerusalem and Riyadh, al-Binali believes that a thaw is inevitable. “Look, I think it’s going that way. I mean, let’s look at what is happening now, you have [Israeli airline] overflight rights and that means the mind is open,” he observed. “How and when we will get there is not clear to me, but I feel strongly that it is not a question of if; it depends on the Saudi leadership. They will decide based on their interests the best timing.”

Between Israelis and Emiratis, al-Binali said, “there are still personal reservations on both sides, but in general, the societal move overcomes any personal reservations, and people are just curious.”

As for his progress so far with OurCrowd, which is the first venture capital company to be licensed in the UAE, al-Binali said he has been afforded significant flexibility in developing operations in the Gulf, and that several big projects are already in the works, including a global AI innovation center and a new incubator.

“Of course, there is potential for disagreements and working together is still a challenge, but I also believe there are some great opportunities,” concluded al-Binali, pointing to global events such as changes in the U.S. equity market, growing inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war. “You’re going to see contraction, but on the flip side oil has just gone through the roof, which means the coffers of the sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf will be filled out, and there’ll be pressure on them to expand their investment programs.”

This article first appeared on Jewish Insider.

When Israel’s newly installed ambassador to Morocco, David Govrin, recently addressed a gathering of young Israelis and Moroccans in Marrakesh, he summed up his first 14 months on the job by recalling a conversation with a local official: “He asked me if I’d encountered any problems so far; I told him I had one big problem,” Govrin joked. “The food is simply too good here.”

While there is no doubt that delectable and intoxicating Moroccan fare, which is also wildly popular in Israel thanks to the nearly half a million Jews of Moroccan heritage who reside in the Jewish state, might not be good for the waistline, Govrin told Jewish Insider in an interview last week that his answer was the truth – he has received a warm and genuine welcome since arriving in the Arab country in January 2021.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” Govrin told JI. “We feel it and see it every day, the people here are genuinely very excited about Israel.”

Govrin became Israel’s first ambassador to Morocco just a month after the two countries agreed to establish full and open ties in December 2020, and has been working to both establish a fully functional diplomatic mission and build people-to-people ties that will enhance the already warm peace that is rapidly growing between the countries.

A veteran of Israel’s foreign service and a fluent Arabic speaker, Govrin understands the difference between a peace that is warm over one that is not. A former ambassador to Egypt, from 2016 to 2019 – Govrin also served as first secretary in Cairo between 1994-1997 – he said Israel’s relations with the two Arab states differ wildly. 

“One has to bear in mind that Israel and Egypt have engaged in five wars, this is not the same for Israel and Morocco,” Govrin began, highlighting that powerful segments in Egyptian society – the Nasserists and the Islamists – have remained an obstacle to Egypt’s ability to develop better personal ties with Israel.

“There are also no cultural relations between Israel and Egypt,” he continued. “This is unfortunate because it is cultural relations that really bring people together.”

During his short time in Morocco, Govrin has focused on building those cultural and people-to-people relationships. From a young leaders’ seminar last month in Marrakesh to a Jewish women’s festival in the Mediterranean city of Tangiers to mark International Women’s Day, he said it has been easy.

“Before I arrived, my expectations were at a certain level,” Govrin admitted. “After arriving, however, I noticed that the reality was way beyond that. There’s so much enthusiasm and the people here are very excited and eager to visit Israel.”

Indeed, the new consular section, which did not exist before Govrin’s arrival, has received endless inquiries and requests from Moroccans wanting to visit Israel. Israeli airlines began direct flights to Morocco last summer, and the first Moroccan airline held its inaugural flight from Casablanca just over a week ago.

What sets Morocco apart from other Arab states, Govrin explained, is that “the Moroccan people fully understand the importance of the peace with Israel” and feel connected to Jews because of the community’s long presence in the country.

“They have a positive and forthcoming approach to Jews because the Jews were an integral part of Moroccan society, history and heritage for many centuries,” he continued. “This has helped us to push the relationship forward.”

Jews have had a permanent presence in Morocco for more than 2,000 years and with the arrival of Jews from Spain and Portugal – following their expulsion in 1492 – their impact in the country grew even further. Today, while the community has shrunk from an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 in the mid-20th century to only about 2,000 – most fleeing following waves of antisemitism after Israel’s creation –  those still living in the country remain openly and actively Jewish.

“In Morocco, the Jewish presence was welcomed for many years by the kings, and [the current leader] King Mohammed VI is very supportive and encouraging as far as relations with Israel are concerned,” said Govrin. “And we have to bear in mind that leaders play a role in sending a message to their citizens.” 

As for the thorny issue of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinian, which served been a point of contention for many Arab countries and prevented them from normalizing ties with Israel for decades, Govrin said the subject feels distant in Morocco. There were a handful of protests against the resumption of relations with Israel in December 2021, but following a recent national election in the country, the strongest voices opposed to normalization with the Jewish state – the Islamists – are now on the margins. 

“Morocco’s foreign policy is led by the king and [since] the Islamists are no longer part of the governing coalition, their presence in parliament was greatly diminished, and as far as the relationship between Israel and Morocco goes, we feel that the majority of Moroccans are very much in favor of bilateral ties,” he said. 

“The perception of the Palestinian issue changed here following the Arab Spring,” continued the ambassador, author of a 2016 book about the ideological upheaval caused by the wave of popular protests that swept the Arab world a decade ago. “People here are focused more on domestic issues and the Palestinian issue is just one of many other regional conflicts.”

“The Moroccan outlook is towards Europe and Africa,” Govrin continued, adding that “Moroccans invest most of their energy on improving the relationship with Europe and Africa.”

For Israel, Morocco is both a natural ally and a strategic asset exactly because it sits at the gateway to two continents, and, said Govrin, the Jewish state is utilizing the renewed relationship to expand cooperation on multiple levels – diplomatic, economic and cultural, as well as security cooperation.

In the short space of time since he arrived in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, he has already welcomed a slew of top Israeli officials from Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to Defense Minister Benny Gantz to Economy Minister Orna Barbivai. Visits that have paved the way for stronger and deeper cooperation, said Govrin.

“We’ve achieved a lot over the past year,” the ambassador finished, and while COVID-19 has hampered the process somewhat, he promised that a reciprocal visit by a top Moroccan official to Israel is likely to happen very soon.

This article first appeared on Jewish Insider.

As Expo 2020 Dubai comes to a close at the end of March, the United Arab Emirates will host a soccer match between teams from the Abraham Accords’ signatory countries, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides announced on Wednesday. 

Players from Israel, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates will face off in Dubai in the inaugural “Abraham Accords Games,” an effort being spearheaded by Nides and the UAE’s ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja. The event will also feature a “dinner celebration” with chefs from each country. 

“I fundamentally believe that travel, tourism [and] culture is the way to cement, in people’s psyche, the importance of these Abraham Accords,” Nides told reporters in a virtual press conference on Wednesday. 

Since arriving in Israel in December, Nides has emerged as one of the most vocal proponents of the Abraham Accords — the 2020 pact that normalized ties between Israel, the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan — within President Joe Biden’s administration. 

The event will take place on March 29, and the delegations from each country will also visit the others’ booths at the Expo. The culture ministers from each of the four countries will be in attendance. After the event, they will sign a “cultural cooperation declaration” with the goal of “fomenting and just continuing to advance the idea that cultural cooperation is the key to success to the Abraham Accords,” said Nides. 

With the event taking place in an international hub like Dubai, Nides said he hopes the event will show other countries the benefit of joining the Abraham Accords.

“It just shows what happens when there’s cooperation,” he explained. “Obviously, the more people understand each other, the more ability there is to work together, not only on playing football or eating food, but how do we do economic ties? How do we do energy ties? How do we do security ties? How do we do cooperation?”

Sudan, which was a signatory to the Abraham Accords in 2020 but has been absent from most of the resulting cooperation, will not participate in the Abraham Accords Games. Sudan “is going through some complications with leadership,” said Nides, referring to a military coup that rocked the country last year, but “our hope is that we’ll all be doing all these events together.” 

The Abraham Accords Games is the first major event in a cross-cultural approach Nides is taking to advancing the Abraham Accords and showing their potential to other countries in the region. “I’m hoping that Israel plans to do something this summer for a month of different activities in the cultures of all the countries,” Nides said, explaining his vision for a “whole month of concerts and plays and arts. There’s just a massive amount of stuff that people don’t know about each one of these countries.” 

Nides urged policymakers and practitioners in the Abraham Accords countries to “get in the mindset of kids” by working with “influencers, pop stars [and] cultural icons,” which he said he has a plan to do.