King Mohammed VI of Morocco imposes conditions on Netanyahu before visiting Israel
A report published by the "Africa Intelligence" website revealed that King Mohammed VI of Morocco is seeking to impose his conditions on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who invited him to visit Israel, in an effort to calm public opinion after the normalization of relations with Tel Aviv.
The report said that King Mohammed VI is trying to play the role of mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, and defender of the Arab-Islamic identity of Jerusalem. So that he maintains his image as a key player on the file.
King Mohammed VI received an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Israel after the normalization of relations between the two countries, last December 10.
According to the report, the Moroccan monarch wants to use this call to put forward multiple conditions that show him as a strong defender of the Palestinian cause, and a way to engage in the issue while dispelling accusations of “treason” on this issue, fueled by a party from the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party, according to the report.
According to the report, the Moroccan monarch wants to meet during this trip, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, with whom he spoke by phone on December 23, at a time when he received the American-Israeli delegation headed by Jared Kushner.
In the event of his visit to Israel, Mohammed VI seeks to encourage the resumption of direct talks between Abbas and Netanyahu, which were suspended in February of last year.
The report considered that "this mission of good offices will allow the king to appear as a good-willed mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even in facilitating normalization between Arab countries and Israel, but this desire may contradict the approaches of Netanyahu, who promised to build 800 new settlements in the West Bank."
The report indicated that the Moroccan monarch is looking forward to investing in his capacity as head of the Jerusalem Committee (responsible for defending the Arab-Islamic identity of Jerusalem), and he hopes to be able to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during his potential trip. This is something that the Hebrew state should not oppose, but the irony is that the difficulty may come from the Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, who was appointed by Mahmoud Abbas, and who has the upper hand over the mosque, according to the report.
In August, the Mufti of Jerusalem issued a fatwa prohibiting citizens of Arab countries that had normalized their relations with Israel from coming to pray there, calling on Muhammad VI to resolve, before any trip to Israel, the issue of reopening the announced liaison office on December 10.
According to the report, the site has already been selected, and it will be Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, as some countries have moved their embassies in recent years, after Donald Trump's decision to recognize the city as the capital of the Hebrew state. Report: The King of Morocco wants to impose his conditions on Netanyahu before a possible visit to Israel.
