Morocco-Israel Relations

The Royal Cabinet reframes the SG of the PJD by reminding him that foreign policy is a prerogative of the Sovereign.

The General Secretariat of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) recently issued a statement containing “irresponsible overstepping and dangerous approximations”, concerning relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Israel, in connection with the latest developments in occupied Palestinian territories, the Royal Cabinet said in a statement.

In this regard, the Office of His Majesty the King of Morocco stresses the following:

• Firstly: Morocco’s position regarding the Palestinian question is irreversible. It constitutes one of the priorities of the foreign policy of His Majesty the King, the Commander of the Faithful and Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, who places this issue on a par with the question of the Kingdom’s territorial integrity. For Morocco, this is a constant, principled position, which should not be open to political posturing and narrow electoral campaigns.

• Secondly: The Kingdom’s foreign policy is a prerogative of His Majesty the King, may God assist him, as per the Constitution – a foreign policy which His Majesty implements in light of the immutable values and best interests of the nation, chief among which is the question of territorial integrity.

• Thirdly: The Kingdom’s international relations cannot be the subject of blackmail by anyone or for any consideration whatsoever, particularly in the current complex global context. The instrumentalization of the Kingdom’s foreign policy in a domestic partisan agenda thus constitutes a dangerous, unacceptable precedent.

• Fourthly: The resumption of relations between Morocco and Israel took place in circumstances and in a context that everyone knows. It is governed by the communiqué of the Office of His Majesty the King dated December 10, 2020, and the communiqué issued on the same day following the telephone conversation between His Majesty and the Palestinian President, as well as the Tripartite Declaration of December 22, 2020, signed in His Majesty’s presence.

The nation’s driving forces, political parties, as well as some prominent figures, and certain associations engaged in the Palestinian question, were at the time informed of that decision, for which they expressed their support and commitment”.

It should be recalled that the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Palestinian cause is constant and inalienable. It is one of the prerogatives of Morocco’s foreign action that the Moroccan Sovereign, Amir Al Mouminine Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, places on the same level as territorial integrity.

The PJD’s instrumentalization of fundamental foreign policy issues, which are the Sovereign’s domain, calls the party’s attitudes into question, especially given the fact that the Palestinian issue has not seen any new development.

As a member of parliament, the party should have used the institutional and democratic framework and channels, namely the competent committees, to interact with the government, which spares no effort to inform and enlighten parliamentarians through the institutional and political mechanisms.

The PJD’s untimely exit is very evasive and conveys the same language as the Kingdom’s opponents. The PJD considered it appropriate to target certain statements made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs within the AU, forgetting that Moroccan diplomacy was in the midst of a battle for the autonomy and emancipation of this pan-African organization from Algerian and South African control. This raises questions about the real aims of the PJD communiqué and its flagrant lack of appreciation.

The decision to establish relations between Morocco and Israel came in a specific context for Morocco (in relation to the recognition of the Moroccanity of the Sahara by President Trump) and circumstances known to all. The PJD was a signatory of the tripartite declaration of 2020, in the person of the head of government at the time. Even the current SG of the PJD was informed, and he expressed his full support.

The party’s political comment in itself is not problematic, but what is deplorable in this case is the attempt to outbid and blackmail in the name of the Palestinian cause.

Two years after the re-establishment of relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv, the communiqué of the Royal Cabinet has chosen, this time, the option of clarity and responsibility, against the game of ambiguity and the temptation of instrumentalizing the Palestinian issue for political purposes. The message is now unequivocal:

“The Kingdom’s international relations cannot be the object of blackmail by anyone and for any consideration whatsoever”. As a result, the PJD is called upon to refrain from instrumentalizing serious foreign policy matters, especially in a complex international context. Foreign policy is a serious matter that must be handled with the utmost rigour and the highest sense of responsibility, with more vigilance and reserve.”