The Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros, an Indian Ocean nation, has established full diplomatic relations with Israel, making it the third member of the Arab League to take the step.
Egypt and Jordan have also established relations with Israel.
The league’s smallest member state, Comoros comprises an archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of southeastern Africa and has a population of some 420,000, most of whom are Muslims.
The agreement to establish diplomatic relations was signed in Paris on Nov. 10 by Israel’s ambassador to France, Yehuda Lancry, and the president of Comoros, said Mohammad Johar. Johar was in France attending a three-day French-African conference.
Israel will soon send a commission to Comoros to assess the Islamic republic’s needs in the agricultural field. A former French protectorate, Comoros’ leading products are vanilla, copra and various vegetable oils.
Lancry said in an interview that while there were some economic benefits to be derived from the mutual recognition pact, most important was the fact that Comoros was a member of the Arab League with full voting rights.
The Arab League has said it will vote on whether to continue its long-standing boycott of Israel at a meeting early next year.
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