Israel Appoints Dorit Avidani as Consul in Morocco

This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
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Israel Appoints Dorit Avidani as Consul in Morocco

This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on December 10, 2020 shows a Moroccan flag off the coasts of the city of Cayenne on March 21, 2012 and an Israeli national flag on September 23, 2020. (AFP)

Israel's Foreign Ministry has announced the appointment of Dorit Avidani as the country's consul in Morocco.

Deputy Chief of Israel’s Mission in the Kingdom Eyal David congratulated Avidani for assuming her new post as Consul and Head of Administration at the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco.

In a tweet on Saturday, David hailed Avidani’s 30 years of experience in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There were no immediate comments from Moroccan authorities in this regard.

On Dec. 10, 2020, Rabat and Tel Aviv announced resuming diplomatic ties after they were suspended in 2000.

Morocco was one of four Arab countries - along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan - to normalize ties with Israel last year under US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Liaison offices between Israel and Morocco were established in 1994 after the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements known as the Oslo Accords, but they closed after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2000.

The offices were reopened in January 2021 after Morocco joined the US-engineered accords and the two countries agreed to form diplomatic missions.

Israel later appointed Ambassador Govrin as Head of its liaison office in Rabat.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.