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Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen has refuted claims that the Negev summit which was due to take place in Morocco in mid-July was canceled, arguing on Sunday that the meeting was “postponed” but “not canceled.”
As he made the comments, however, Cohen acknowledged that the delay was due to Israel’s illegal settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank in Palestine.
On Friday, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourit confirmed reports that the Negev summit had been postponed due to an unfavorable “political context”
“The problems of agenda and dates are the main reasons behind the postponement,” Bourita announced as he appeared to recall the charged political context amid Israel’s announcement to expand its illegal settlement projects in the occupied West Bank.
Bourita further conveyed Morocco’s solidarity with Palestine, stressing that the North African country is closely watching the situation in occupied Palestinian territories.
He also voiced Morocco’s rejections of Israel’s plans to expand its illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Like Cohen, however, Bourita recalled Morocco’s commitment towards the Negev summit, stressing that the North African country is ready to host the forum in the next season. But he stressed that Morocco would only host the regional summit in the right or favorable political context for the meeting to contribute to producing positive results for regional peace and stability.
The Negev Forum convenes officials from all countries that signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords to re-establish ties with Israel.
The Israeli FM pledged that two countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel were set to participate in the forum.
“I’m happy to say that we’re in touch with a number of countries, which as of today, we don’t have ties with, in order to expand the Abraham Accords,” the Times of Israel quoted Cohen as saying during a Knesset panel discussion.
