Knesset Speaker to Visit Moroccan Parliament

Knesset ​​Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) is scheduled to leave on Wednesday for a historic official visit to the Parliament of Morocco, at the invitation of Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami.

This is considered to be a significant and groundbreaking visit, due to the fact that it is the first official invitation for a bilateral visit ever extended to an Israeli Knesset Speaker by a Parliament speaker of a Muslim country in general and a Moroccan Parliament speaker in particular.

In the course of the visit, Speaker Ohana is slated to meet with his Moroccan counterpart, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, as well as the chair of the Morocco-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group and additional members of the House of Representatives. The Knesset Speaker and his host are expected to issue statements to the press and to sign an official memorandum of understanding for the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation, for the purpose of strengthening the relationship between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Ohana is also scheduled to meet with senior officials from the Government of Morocco and with leaders of the local Jewish community.

Speaker Ohana said: “Thanks to the groundbreaking leadership of King Mohamed VI of Morocco, this visit has been made possible. The dream of peace with the lands of Islam has always been in our hearts, and it is only fitting that of all these many countries, it is the Kingdom of Morocco that is the first to invite one of the symbols of government and head of the State of Israel’s legislative branch — who also happens to be the first Knesset Speaker of Moroccan origin — for an official visit to its House of Representatives. History is being made before our eyes, and it heralds the strengthening of the relationship between the two countries, greater closeness between the nations and expanding the circle of peace.”