Morocco rejects normalising ties with Israel -PM

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani on Sunday rejected any normalization of relations with Israel. Morocco’s official position has been in support of the two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state. Morocco and Israel began low-level ties in 1993 after an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was reached.

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani on Sunday rejected any normalization of relations with Israel. "We refuse any normalization with the Zionist entity because this emboldens it to go further in breaching the rights of the Palestinian people," El Otmani told his Islamist PJD party.

The remarks came ahead of a visit to the region by Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law to U.S. President Donald Trump, and after the UAE and Israel struck a deal to normalize ties. Morocco's official position has been in support of the two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

Morocco and Israel began low-level ties in 1993 after an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was reached. But Rabat suspended relations with the Jewish state after the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.