Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party are hoping that Morocco's King Mohammed VI will conduct his first-ever visit to Israel in the coming months - and perhaps maybe even during the March 2021 elections.
If Morocco's monarch does indeed visit Israel, it will be an event of immense historic significance that is sure to receive widespread media attention both domestically and abroad.
Political sources claim that this fact is not lost on Netanyahu, who intends to capitalize on the king’s visit fully in order to strengthen both himself and the Likud’s campaign in the upcoming elections.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Moroccan King Mohammed VI
(Photo: AFP, Ohad Zwigenberg )
The same sources claim that while the Israeli side hopes to see Mohammed VI’s visit take place in the coming months, they emphasize that the king's potential visit will only happen once the current coronavirus restrictions are lifted and when entry into Israel will once again be allowed.
Netanyahu first invited Mohammed to visit Israel less than a month after Jerusalem and Rabat agreed to normalize relations back in December and shortly after the Israeli delegation to Morocco took the first direct commercial flight to Rabat to hammer out the U.S.-led agreement.
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The Israeli delegation, accompanied by Jared Kushner, meeting with Morocco's King Mohammed VI
(Photo: GPO)
During the previous election campaigns, Netanyahu has placed heavy emphasis on his political relations with leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The current assumption is that Netanyahu hopes to once again strengthen his position in the upcoming elections by utilizing his foreign connections, specifically the newly formed Israel-Morocco relationship.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.