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Casablanca – In its latest survey, the Arab Barometer, a nonpartisan research network, reported that 31% of Moroccans favor normalization with Israel, dropping 10% since 2021.
Titled “Public Views on US-China Competition in MENA,” the survey focused on several issues related to the global competition between the US and China. It also reveals the majority of MENA countries that oppose the US-backed Abraham Accords and the resumption of diplomatic relations with Israel.
“Although at most about a quarter of citizens in the region say they follow news on this issue a great deal or fair amount, including just one-in-ten in Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, these peace agreements are widely rejected overall,” the study highlighted.
However, in eight of the nine nations polled, fewer than one-fifth, one in five people, approve of the normalization agreements with Israel, including fewer than one in ten in Mauritania (8%), Libya (7%), Palestine (6%), Jordan (5%), and Egypt (5%), the report detailed.
According to the Arab Barometer survey, Morocco and Sudan (with 39% of Sudanese favoring the normalization with Israel) are significant exceptions in the region. Sudan was granted significant debt relief and removal of its status as sponsoring terrorism by the US in exchange for its normalization agreement.
Both countries have signed the Abraham Accords, but Morocco has finished the process of normalization with Israel, whilst Sudan has just begun it, the report noted.
Read also: US Ambassador: Morocco-Israel Normalization ‘Thrilling,’ ‘Historic Milestone’
According to the study, Moroccans’ support for the normalization with Israel is related to the quid-pro-quo agreement where “the US recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara simultaneously with normalization.”
Thus, the report explains, “it is possible that the relative popularity of normalization in both countries is the result of citizens focusing on the strategic benefits that each agreement has brought to their country.”
In the previous edition, when polled about normalizing relations with Israel, 41% of Moroccans supported the deal, according to the Arab Barometer in June 2021.
