Israeli MK meets with Moroccan MPs for the first time, agrees to establish parliamentary group

The first official meeting between members of the Moroccan parliament and a member of the Israeli Knesset has finally taken place. On Thursday, MK Ram Ben-Barak of the Yesh Atid Party spoke in an online video call with two members of the Moroccan House of Councilors, Mohamed Al Bakhouri and Abdelkarim Al Hams, Jerusalem Port reported.

This meeting is the first of its kind since Morocco and Israeli signed a normalization agreement in December, 2020. Members of the Moroccan delegation proposed to establish a parliamentary friendship group between the Israeli-Moroccan MPs and MK Ben Barak.

«This is a dream come true», MK Ben Barak said. «The relationship between the two countries is extremely important», he said.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Al Bakhouri said that he was «happy» to meet with Ben Barak. «We have a special connection», he said, adding that «the King of Morocco ordered the introduction of Jewish studies in schools and eradicated any manifestation of racism against the Jews in the country».

«The Moroccans are an open and generous people, endowed with a morality based on coexistence, and we welcome any initiative that will strengthen the relationship between us», he added.

This meeting took place ahead of a meeting of the Committee to Combat Terrorism of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), in which the three are participating and which took place later on Thursday.