Lower House Speaker Meets Knesset Counterpart in Rabat

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi Alami, held talks in Rabat on Thursday with speaker of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, Amir Ohana, focusing on ways of strengthening relations between the two countries’ legislative institutions. During the meeting, which took place as part of the Knesset speaker’s first visit to Morocco, Ohana praised the farsighted leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, and the Sovereign’s role in achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians, according to a statement by the House of Representatives. “HM King Mohammed VI has the confidence of all parties and a deep understanding of the issues and challenges we face,” he said, adding that this enables the Sovereign to play the role of mediator between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in favor of peace in the region. Referring to the question of the Kingdom’s territorial integrity, the speaker of the Knesset affirmed that “the Sahara is Moroccan and will remain so, as history attests”, adding that the Israeli Prime Minister would be making an official announcement to this effect very shortly. For his part, Talbi El Alami stressed that the Kingdom is considered a land of peace, dialogue and coexistence between different civilizations, cultures and religions, recalling several initiatives carried out in this field under the impetus of HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful. He announced that the Moroccan Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union would be organizing an international parliamentary conference on interfaith dialogue in Marrakech next week, under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI. The meeting was attended by chairman of the Morocco-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group in the House of Representatives, Noureddine El Harouchi, and chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs and Moroccan Expatriates Committee, Nadia Bouaida.