Israel ties ‘not on agenda’ for Tunisia, says Tunisian PM

PARIS: Tunisia has no plans to match Morocco’s decision to recognise Israel, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said, insisting that establishing relations with the Jewish state was “not on the agenda”.

Last week, Morocco became the fourth country in the Arab League to recognise Israel since August, in a flurry of diplomatic deals brokered by outgoing US President Donald Trump.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan have also recently normalised ties with Israel as part of a push that weakens the Arab world’s previously united front over the Palestinians’ struggle for statehood.

“We respect Morocco’s choice, Morocco is a sister country that we love very much,” Mechichi told France 24 broadcaster in an interview late Monday.

But, he said, “for Tunisia, the question is not on the agenda.”

Mechichi said he had not been approached by the Trump administration about the issue.

“Every country has its own reality, its own truth and its own diplomacy, which it considers best for its people,” he said.

Neighbouring Algeria took a less charitable view of the deal struck with arch-rival Morocco, under which Washington recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region in exchange for Rabat normalising ties with Israel.

Algeria, which backs the Polisario independence movement in Western Sahara, said the move was part of “foreign manoeuvres which aim to destabilise Algeria”.