Moroccan government faces calls from former PM and star footballer to reconsider normalization agreement with Israel

Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary-General of Morocco’s opposition Justice and Development Party, has urged the government to rethink its normalization agreement with Israel, according to media reports.

“The agreements that bind our country with what is referred to as Israel no longer have any reasonable, logical, or moral basis,” Benkirane reportedly said during a party meeting in Rabat on Saturday. His comments, broadcast on the party’s Facebook page, come amid rising tensions following the war in Gaza.

Star Moroccan footballer Hakim Ziyech also criticized the agreement on social media, implying Morocco's complicity in what he described as genocide, according to Morocco World News. His Instagram posts, which have since been removed, featured a video of Israeli soldiers allegedly pushing the bodies of dead Palestinians off rooftops in the West Bank.

The ongoing Gaza conflict has sparked protests across Moroccan cities, with activists urging the government to sever ties with Israel.

Morocco and Israel signed a normalization agreement in December 2020, with Morocco agreeing to recognize Israel in exchange for U.S. acknowledgment of Morocco’s claims over Western Sahara.