In Morocco, normalization with Israel hampered by the war against Hamas

Etiquettes : Morocco, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Palestine, normalization, Abraham deal,

The ties forged since 2020, military, security and economic, seem too strong to be broken even if support for standardization has further declined

Exchanges between Morocco and Israel flourished with the normalization of their relations three years ago, but the war in Gaza and the support of the Moroccan people for the Palestinian cause have cut that momentum, analysts say.

Defence, agriculture, new technologies, tourism: bilateral cooperation accelerated in the wake of the standardization agreement, signed in December 2020 and in return for which Morocco garnered American and then Israeli recognition of its sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

But since October 7 and the bloody Hamas attack on Israeli soil, a prelude to a new war in the Gaza Strip controlled by the terrorist group, air links between Israel and Morocco have been suspended, Israeli tourists have vanished like investors.

“Overnight, there was no one. The Israelis who were there fled, they were very afraid,” said Michel Cohen, a Franco-Israeli investor, owner of a hidden restaurant in Marrakech that had closed, like 11 others out of the 14 that had opened in the wake of standardization.

At the same time, pro-Palestinian protests, which had always been a vector of mobilization but had run out of steam over the past three years, have gained momentum, leading to calls for a breakdown of relations between Morocco and Israel.

In the face of the relentless bombardment of Gaza, «civil society (Moroccan) expresses its discontent and Rabat had to take into account this popular demand», said Zakaria Abouddahab, professor of international relations at Mohammed V University.

Since October 7 and the attack that killed 1,200 in Israel, Rabat’s tone has evolved: first expressing its «deep concern» and condemning any attack on civilians, the kingdom finally denounced, on November 11 at an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, “Israel’s persistence in its blatant aggression against unarmed civilians.” Without ever condemning the Hamas attack itself.

“Win-win”

«Morocco today is in a very delicate situation», with on the one hand «a deep desire to maintain a win-win relationship» and «street pressure» on the other, analyzes Mr. Abouddahab.

In October, the evacuation of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat for security reasons, reported by Moroccan media, recalled the breakdown of relations in 2000, in the context of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising).

Rabat then denounced the «Israeli violence», causing the closure of the Israeli office.

But according to analysts, this scenario is unlikely today.

“We will maintain the relationship but slow down the pace of meetings and visits,” Abouddahab told AFP.

It is difficult in this context to imagine the kingdom hosting high-level Israeli officials, let alone Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, whose visit was expected by the end of the year.

“Umbilical cord”

According to Jamal Amiar, author of Morocco, Israel and Moroccan Jews, the ties forged since 2020, military, security and economic, are too strong to break even though support for standardisation, which was already only 3 1% last year according to an Arab Barometer survey, has fallen further.

A break would also create «diplomatic disorder», especially with the US administration, he said, recalling that support on the Western Sahara issue was in Rabat’s eyes a «huge counterpart» to normalization.

Mr. Amiar advocates that the kingdom make its delicate position «an asset» to «play a more dynamic role» in mediation efforts, building on its links with Israel, the Arab countries but also the important Jewish community in Morocco, which makes it a unique country in the Arab world.

Estimated at 3,000 people, Moroccan Jews remain the main Jewish community in North Africa, while some 700,000 Israelis are of Moroccan descent and have maintained a strong attachment to their country of origin.

“The fundamentals of the Morocco-Israel relationship are strong, they have roots,” Amiar told AFP.

In Morocco, there is a «real» coexistence between Muslims and Jews, says Jacky Kadoch, representative of the Jewish community in Marrakech, who wants to believe in a return to normality, because despite the repetitive crises, “the umbilical cord has never been cut between the two countries.”

Source : Times of Israel

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