Moroccan court welcomes Israeli Minister despite appeal
A Moroccan court rejected a lawsuit filed to prevent Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev entering the country, according to the New Arab on 19th February.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of Moroccan lawyers who were seeking to use the court in order to prevent the Israeli minister from entering the country.
The group claim she has been involved in war crimes in Gaza.
She is due to be participating in the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which is being held in Marrakech.
Regev is a controversial figure from the Netanyahu government.
She is a hardline Israeli nationalist and has previously been a military spokesperson.
The courts decision to allow her to enter the country was met with swift response from protestors who met outside the courthouse just hours after the ruling.
Khaled Soufiani, an anti-normalisation protestor told the New Arab that: ‘The court has refused to take responsibility.’
Morocco has been criticised for its normalised relations with Israel since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
Since the signing of the Accords, Morocco and Israel have signed numerous agreements in education, military and trade.
In return for normalising relations, Morocco was recognised as the sovereign power over the Western Sahara territories.
After the attacks on October 7th 2023, protests within Morocco against normalisation had increased.
Thousands took to the streets in mass demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
The Moroccan government distanced themselves with Israel during the conflict; allowing protests, restricting visits from Israeli officials and being careful not to publicly align with Israel.
The cooling in relations led pro-Palestinian groups to hope that Morocco may officially cut ties with Israel.
However, since the signing of the ceasefire on January 19th, Morocco has been quick to reaffirm its relationship with Israel.
As a ceasefire holds a very delicate peace, pro-Palestinian groups are upset with the government’s decision to once again align itself with Israel.
After the decision to allow Israeli Minister Regev into the country, Soufiani said: ‘We will continue this fight. Israel is a terrorist entity, and its officials should not be welcomed here.’
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