PJD overlooks former ministers' meetings with Israeli officials

The Justice and Development Party (PJD) has voiced strong opposition to the presence of an Israeli delegation at a Socialist International session held on Saturday in Rabat by the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP). This «anger» was articulated in a statement by the head of the Islamist party's parliamentary group.

Abdellah Bouanou, addressing the leadership of the Rose Party, condemned what he described as an «unacceptable provocation towards Moroccans that requires clarification». He expressed «astonishment» at the inclusion of Israeli representatives, particularly «at a time when genocide and ethnic extermination continue in Gaza by the Israeli army and when there is a consensus within the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) not to recognize the Palestinian state», he emphasized during a speech delivered on Monday, December 23, in Rabat at a meeting of the PJD parliamentary group.

It is worth noting that PJD ministers, including Aziz Rebbah and Abdelkader Amara, held meetings with their Israeli counterparts on December 22, 2020. This was the same day when the former head of government, Saad-Eddine El Othmani, then secretary-general of the PJD, signed the Tripartite Declaration between Morocco, the United States, and Israel in Rabat. This episode is one the PJD is keen to move past, particularly following the return of Abdelilah Benkirane to leadership in October 2021.