Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on Monday called for a new dynamic to the peace process and for concrete steps to be taken to open up promising prospects for the peoples of the Middle East region.
“We must build a dynamic according to concrete steps that people feel and that contributes to improving the life of the world and open promising prospects for the youth and people of the region,” he told a press briefing on the sidelines of the Sde Boker diplomatic summit, which brought together the foreign ministers of the United States, Israel, Morocco, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
In his first official visit to Israel since the normalization of relations between the two countries, Bourita explained that this summit is an opportunity for participants to “build a force working for peace.” “We participate in this summit to be a force for peace and say that a solution to the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict is possible,” he said.
In this sense, the Moroccan minister was keen to recall the vision of King Mohammed VI, based on the two-state solution living side by side with Al-Quds as the capital of the Palestinian state.
“We are here today because we truly believe in peace, not the peace in which each ignores the other, but the one based on the construction of common values and interests, the one that keeps us away from war,” he insisted.
In addition, Bourita said that the summit has brought many positive messages to the peoples of the region. “Clear and firm messages to those who work directly or through surrogates, that we are here to defend our values and interests and to create a deterrent effect to protect this dynamic.”
Moreover, the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel is far from being “an opportunistic decision,” but rather, said Bourita “a measure taken with conviction,” thus insisting on the “strong ties that exist between Morocco and the Jewish community, as well as the historical involvement of this country in the peace process.”
In this regard, he added, “regional dynamism is very important, as is regional stability to promote peace between Israel and Palestine. For Bourita, Morocco has played a leading role in the Middle East peace process, saying that the country is ready to contribute to giving new impetus to this dynamic.”
Regarding Moroccan-Israeli relations, Bourita said that much progress has been made since the signing of the tripartite declaration in Rabat, citing among other things the launch of flights connecting the two countries.
Bourita said that the Moroccan-Israeli ties will soon experience an important dynamic that will further strengthen them in various areas, including diplomacy.
HA/lb/abj/APA