King Mohammed VI has reportedly refused to receive Benjamin Netanyahu

King Mohammed VI has reportedly vetoed Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Morocco. According to Israel’s Channel 12, the Israeli Prime Minister had hoped to accompany US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his visit to Morocco, Thursday, but King Mohammed VI refused the idea, The Times of Israel wrote on Friday.

On Wednesday, December 4, Netanyahu flew to Portugal, where he met Pompeo. On the same day, Israeli media reported that Israeli officials are hoping for a breakthrough in ties with Rabat in the upcoming few days.

Netanyahu’s request was submitted to Pompeo, who informed the Moroccan authorities about it. According to the same source, which quotes Moroccan sources, when Pompeo «proposed the idea to the Moroccans, they completely refused and even declined to discuss the issue of normalization».

The Israeli newspaper reveals that the Prime Minister’s office called the reports «lies».

For the record, King Mohammed VI met in September 2003 in Tetouan with former Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. It was, indeed, his only official meeting with a member of the Israeli government.

In October 2010, the King had rejected a request from Shimon Perez, then president of Israel, who wanted to meet him on the sidelines of the sixth edition the Future Forum held the same year in Marrakech.