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Report: Morocco rejects normalization with Israel

Normalization with “the Zionist entity” encourage violation of “Palestinian rights,” says Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine el-Othmani.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine el-Othmani, in Rabat, Morocco, on Dec. 5, 2019. Credit: Ron Przysucha/U.S. State Department.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine el-Othmani, in Rabat, Morocco, on Dec. 5, 2019. Credit: Ron Przysucha/U.S. State Department.

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine el-Othmani on Sunday announced his rejection of any normalization agreement with Israel, claiming such agreements were prejudicial to the Palestinian cause.

“We refuse any normalization with the Zionist entity because this emboldens it to go further in breaching the rights of the Palestinian people,” el-Otmani told his Islamist PJD party, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

El-Othmani’s remarks came in the context of the planned visit to the region of U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who aims to advance negotiations between Israel and other unspecified Arab nations, according to the report.

On Aug. 13, the United Arab Emirates announced it had agreed to normalize ties with Israel, and according to numerous media reports other Arab states, including Oman, Bahrain and Sudan, are likely to follow suit.

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