«We were shocked by Morocco’s normalization with Israel», Tunisia’s Rached Ghannouchi says

Morocco’s normalization of ties with Israel continues to generate conflicting reactions, especially in Tunisia. Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda movement and President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, said that he rejects normalization with the Hebrew state.

«We were shocked by Morocco’s normalization, which has deviated from the Arab consensus, as expressed by the Arab initiative», he said.

Ghannouchi's reaction on Morocco’s move is however more measured than that about the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized ties with Israel as well. 

The Ennahda movement described that as a «flagrant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and a violation of the official and popular Arab and Islamic consensus». Tunisia's conservative Islamist political party has even accused Abu Dhabi and Manama of «standing by the Israeli occupation».  

For the record, Tunisia’s Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi underlined, last week , that the decision taken by the kingdom is «a choice». «We respect the choice of Morocco, a brother country, a country that we love very much», he declared.