Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco and Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel Sign Memorandum of Understanding between the two Institutions...Speaker of the Knesset: the Sahara is Moroccan, and Shall Remain as Such

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, held talks on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at the seat of the House in Rabat, with the Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel, Hon. Amir Ohana, on the occasion of the first official visit he performs to the Kingdom of Morocco. The talks covered the means to consolidate the bilateral relations between the legislative institutions of the two countries.

During the meeting, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Hon. Amir Ohana, commended the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God glorify him, Chairperson of Al-Quds Al-Sharif Committee, and the role of His Majesty in establishing peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In this respect, he noted, "His Majesty King Mohammed VI earns the trust of all parties and has a deep understanding of the issues and challenges we face, which qualifies His Majesty to mediate between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian authorities to achieve peace in the region."

As for the question of the Moroccan Sahara, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Hon. Amir Ohana, noted, "The Sahara is Moroccan, and history confirms that the Sahara is Moroccan and shall remain as such." He also added that the Head of the Israeli Government will declare it formally in the foreseeable future.

For his part, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, noted that the Kingdom of Morocco is a pole of peace, dialogue, and coexistence between all civilizations, cultures, and religions. In this regard, he shed light on several initiatives fostered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Commander of the Faithful, may God glorify him, in this area. The Speaker added that the Moroccan Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union will organize an international parliamentary conference on interfaith dialogue in Marrakesh next week under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

The two parties agreed on giving new impetus to parliamentary cooperation between the two institutions. In this respect, they concluded a Memorandum of Understanding covering the development of parliamentary relations in legislation and other areas of parliamentary action.

In this vein, the legislative institutions of the two countries will work on advancing parliamentary cooperation in a way that contributes to reinforcing the friendship ties between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Israel. They shall also work on strengthening cooperation between the two institutions in various areas of mutual concern and developing the bilateral parliamentary ties regularly with a view to expanding, ameliorating, examining, and exchanging experiences in legislation and parliamentary action.

The meeting featured the presence of the Chairperson of the Morocco-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group at the House of Representatives, Rep. Noureddine El Harouchi, and the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs, and Moroccan Expatriates Committee, Rep. Nadia Bouaida.