Meir Ben-Shabbat: The Moroccan who Leads the Abraham Accords

Meir Ben-Shabbat, Israel’s National Security Advisor, will be on board of the first commercial flight from Israel to Morocco, following the normalization of relations between the two countries. He was born in 1966 into a religious family consisting of mother Aziza, father Makhlouf, and their 14 children. They immigrated to Dimona, where Meir grew up.

Ben-Shabbat has held several important and sensitive positions in Israel, whether in the Defense Forces, the intelligence services known as Shabak, or the National Security Council. As a result, he is trustworthy and has led top-secret missions, hence his power and influence.

Ben-Shabbat, who is also advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, studied political science at Tel Aviv University. He worked early in his career as a correspondent for the newspaper “Dimona” and other newspapers.

The Israeli media claim that he is one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, and call him the man with the difficult assignments.

Ben-Shabbat does not like being exposed to cameras or lights. Those close to him say he is extremely intelligent and open-minded, while being part of the state’s national religious current.

He led the negotiations for the normalization of the Gulf countries, as well as those for the normalization of his country of origin, Morocco. He also initiated discussions with Saudi Arabia to allow aircraft bound for Israel to pass through Saudi airspace, and played an important role in laying the foundation for diplomatic relations with the Emirates and Bahrain, within the framework of the Abraham Accords.

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