Manama: Morocco Takes Part in 1st Negev Forum Steering Committee Meeting

Morocco took part Monday in Manama in the first meeting of the Negev Forum Steering Committee which brought together senior Foreign Affairs officials from United States, Israel, Bahrain, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.

The gathering, which focused on regional security, energy, water and food, comes ahead of the first visit planned by U.S. President Joe Biden to the Middle East.

It is building on the Negev Summit held in March with the participation of Foreign ministers of the four Arab countries, Israel and the USA, broker of the Abraham Accords. The six countries had pledged to set up six working groups on regional security, energy, food and water security, health, education and tolerance, and tourism.

Morocco was represented in the Manama meeting by Fouad Yazourh, Director of Political affairs at the Foreign Department. The other participants were U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz and Bahraini Undersecretary for Political Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

UAE was represented by Abdulrahman Al Neyadi, director of Policy Planning at the foreign ministry, was present, while Egypt was represented Mohamed Tharwat Selim, deputy assistant foreign minister.

In a joint statement, the six countries said the Manama meeting “demonstrates the strength of our relations, our shared commitment to cooperation, and the important opportunities unlocked by improved relations between Israel and its neighbors, showing what can be achieved by working together to overcome shared challenges.

Participants agreed to strengthen multilateral cooperation and hold an annual ministerial meeting to counter common regional security and global economic challenges.