Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz arrived July 6 to Rabat on an official visit, extending an invitation on the part of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid for his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, to visit Israel. In the written invitation, Lapid reportedly stressed that restoring ties between the two countries was a historical milestone. Still, reports July 14 suggest that Lapid might be visiting Rabat first. Apparently, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem is in talks with Morocco to arrange such a trip, making Lapid the first senior Israeli official to visit the kingdom since the two countries decided last year to normalize ties.

Earlier this week, Lapid visited Brussels, where he first met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. He then met with the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and several European foreign ministers, before addressing officially the monthly European Union Foreign Affairs Council. The last Israeli foreign minister to address this forum was Tzipi Livni in 2008.

A few days earlier, on July 8, Lapid went to Jordan, meeting at the Allenby Bridge with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, to seal a historic water deal that should assist the kingdom in coping with the current drought. On June 29, Lapid went to the United Arab Emirates on a two-day visit. On the first day, he inaugurated Israel’s embassy in Abu Dhabi, and on the second, he dedicated the Israeli Consulate in Dubai. Shortly after the visit, Lapid published an op-ed in the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper co-signed with his Emirati counterpart, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on peace between the two countries.

A quick look at Lapid’s Twitter account shows the newly appointed minister is determined to either meet in person or talk with every possible counterpart across the globe. In the past few days, Lapid spoke with the foreign ministers of Slovakia, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Morocco, the United States, Cyprus, Canada, Greece, the Emirates and Italy, among others. He also spoke on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau. The only missed rendez-vous was that with Equatorial Guinea Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue on a four-day visit to Israel. Coming back from Brussels, Lapid entered into quarantine, after a member of the Israeli delegation tested positive with the coronavirus, so he couldn't meet him.