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Naar aanleiding van de erkenning door Israël van de Marokkaanse soevereiniteit over de Sahara heeft de koning premier Benjamin Netanyahu (1949) uitgenodigd om Marokko te bezoeken. De Israëlische premier heeft in 2022 een biografie gepubliceerd waarin hij de betrekkingen tussen beide landen in een telefonisch gesprek met de koning doornam.
In de biografie komen de Israëliërs tot de conclusie dat de onderhandelingen met de Palestijnen geen zin meer hebben wegens wat Netanyahu beschrijft als de “extremistische fantasie van de uitroeiing van Israël die door uiteenlopende Palestijnse groeperingen hartstochtelijk wordt verdedigd. Na Hamas komt er altijd een nieuwe Hamas tevoorschijn.”
De oplossing volgens Netanyahu is vrede proberen te sluiten met andere moslim landen. Buurland Jordanië wil graag vrede maar voor heel andere redenen. De toenmalige koning Hoessein vroeg om een geheime ontmoeting met Netanyahu om zijn zorgen te uiten over een toekomstige Palestijnse staat met een eigen leger. Hij was bang dat Palestijnen Jordaans land gaan opeisen. In de hele regio worden Palestijnen gewantrouwd, aldus de schrijver. Hieronder het originele gesprek tussen Netanyahu en de koning van Marokko zoals in zijn nieuwe biografie in het Engels staat:
“The fourth peace achieved before the end of Trump's term was with Morocco. The Mossad had continuous relations with its Moroccan counterpart agency and Israeli tourists had visited the country for years. But we had no official, normalized diplomatic relations and no direct flights between our countries.
During a UN visit in September 2018, I had met discreetly with Morocco's foreign minister, a meeting arranged by Dore Gold. "It's time to come out in the open and formally establish normalization. Let's begin with direct flights from Tel Aviv to Rabat," I said.
From Morocco's side, the foreign minister was interested in securing a closer relationship with the US, especially on the matter of Morocco's long-standing claim over Western Sahara. We agreed to see what we could each do for the other.
Once the Abraham Accords were signed in Washington, we focused on securing a peace treaty with Morocco. The US administration signaled its willingness to recognize Morocco's territorial claims and Morocco expressed its willingness to normalize relations with Israel, including the opening of embassies and the establishment of direct flights.
A three-way phone call on December 10, 2020, was arranged for President Trump, Morocco's King Mohammed VI and me in which we announced the normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco. The public announcement stirred many hearts in Israel, especially among those whose families came from Morocco. Given its historically benign treatment of the Jewish community, they retained a warm feeling for the country. Now, after the normalization agreements were in place, they could fly there without the hassle of connecting flights and endless delays.
In a separate phone call I reached out to the king of Morocco, using a mixture of English and my halting French. What began as a stiff diplomatic conversation soon thawed into friendly banter. This being a call to Morocco, I ended it by alluding to the closing line of Casablanca, with which the king was familiar.
"Your Majesty," I said, "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The king laughed. "I agree," he said."
Benjamin Netanyahu: Bibi, My Story.
Treshold Editions, 2022. PP. 631-632.
In de biografie komen de Israëliërs tot de conclusie dat de onderhandelingen met de Palestijnen geen zin meer hebben wegens wat Netanyahu beschrijft als de “extremistische fantasie van de uitroeiing van Israël die door uiteenlopende Palestijnse groeperingen hartstochtelijk wordt verdedigd. Na Hamas komt er altijd een nieuwe Hamas tevoorschijn.”
De oplossing volgens Netanyahu is vrede proberen te sluiten met andere moslim landen. Buurland Jordanië wil graag vrede maar voor heel andere redenen. De toenmalige koning Hoessein vroeg om een geheime ontmoeting met Netanyahu om zijn zorgen te uiten over een toekomstige Palestijnse staat met een eigen leger. Hij was bang dat Palestijnen Jordaans land gaan opeisen. In de hele regio worden Palestijnen gewantrouwd, aldus de schrijver. Hieronder het originele gesprek tussen Netanyahu en de koning van Marokko zoals in zijn nieuwe biografie in het Engels staat:
“The fourth peace achieved before the end of Trump's term was with Morocco. The Mossad had continuous relations with its Moroccan counterpart agency and Israeli tourists had visited the country for years. But we had no official, normalized diplomatic relations and no direct flights between our countries.
During a UN visit in September 2018, I had met discreetly with Morocco's foreign minister, a meeting arranged by Dore Gold. "It's time to come out in the open and formally establish normalization. Let's begin with direct flights from Tel Aviv to Rabat," I said.
From Morocco's side, the foreign minister was interested in securing a closer relationship with the US, especially on the matter of Morocco's long-standing claim over Western Sahara. We agreed to see what we could each do for the other.
Once the Abraham Accords were signed in Washington, we focused on securing a peace treaty with Morocco. The US administration signaled its willingness to recognize Morocco's territorial claims and Morocco expressed its willingness to normalize relations with Israel, including the opening of embassies and the establishment of direct flights.
A three-way phone call on December 10, 2020, was arranged for President Trump, Morocco's King Mohammed VI and me in which we announced the normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco. The public announcement stirred many hearts in Israel, especially among those whose families came from Morocco. Given its historically benign treatment of the Jewish community, they retained a warm feeling for the country. Now, after the normalization agreements were in place, they could fly there without the hassle of connecting flights and endless delays.
In a separate phone call I reached out to the king of Morocco, using a mixture of English and my halting French. What began as a stiff diplomatic conversation soon thawed into friendly banter. This being a call to Morocco, I ended it by alluding to the closing line of Casablanca, with which the king was familiar.
"Your Majesty," I said, "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The king laughed. "I agree," he said."
Benjamin Netanyahu: Bibi, My Story.
Treshold Editions, 2022. PP. 631-632.