ALBAWABA - Morocco's senate president has canceled a historic visit to Israel due to a medical issue, according to the Israeli parliament on Wednesday.
The announcement came only a day before Enaam Mayara was planned to visit Israel's Knesset, on a trip intended to strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. Morocco's senate president has canceled a historic visit to Israel due to a medical issue, according to the Israeli parliament on Wednesday.
"I am sorry that because of a medical emergency, I am unable to come to the Knesset. The connection between the kingdom of Morocco and the state of Israel is a shared interest of the two countries, and together we will deepen it," Mayara said in a statement released by the Knesset regarding the visit.
Mayara was to be the first Moroccan official to enter the Knesset and one of the few Muslim politicians to do so. The parliament had planned a red carpet welcome for him, as well as a formal guard of honor.
As part of the 2020 Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic accords between Israel and four Arab countries arranged by then-President Donald Trump, Israel and Morocco officially normalized relations.
Mayara's visit was expected to be a highlight of the new relations, according to Israel's Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, who visited Morocco early this year. He expressed Israel's wish for Mayara's "quick and complete recovery."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced a desire to broaden the Abraham Accords to include more Arab and Muslim countries. However, relations with Israel's Arab partners have soured as a result of Netanyahu's far-right government's handling of the Palestinian situation.
