Tunisian FM reveals Israeli attempts to persuade Tunisia to normalize
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The Foreign Minister confirms that his country remains a supporter to the Palestinian cause.
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Tunisia's Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2023 (AFP)
The Israeli occupation entity made indirect attempts to persuade Tunisia into normalizing relations, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar revealed, adding that giving in to these proposals were out of the question and that his country remains a supporter to the Palestinian cause.
“We in Tunisia are clear about the issue of normalization. President Kais Saied - who is the primary official responsible for Tunisian diplomacy - confirmed more than once that the word “normalization” does not exist in his dictionary. So, we reaffirm that there is no normalization with Israel," Ammar told the Russia Today broadcaster.
He added: “We are facing an fateful and just cause in the fullest sense of the word (referring to the Palestinian issue), and Tunisia has always applied the principles of international legitimacy. Any other statement that deviates from this matter is unacceptable.”
Tunisia did not officially discuss normalization with anyone, he stressed, adding that “There may be some indirect attempts, but - officially - we have not talked about this issue. Tunisia’s position is clear [on rejecting normalization].”
President of the Algerian National Construction Movement, Abdelkader Bengrina, called on the Algerian government in August to "keep a watchful eye" on Tunisia after several visits were made to the country by representatives of the Israeli occupation that come in line with normalization efforts.
Following Bengrina's statements, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf pointed out that the Tunisian envoy to Algeria categorically refuted any normalization step by the Tunisian authorities, revealing that a new law to criminalize normalization with "Israel" will be enacted in the nieghboring country.
Also responding to the claims, Tunisian President Kais Saied declared his strong objection to claims about his country's intention to normalize relations with "Tel Aviv."
"To those who talk about normalization, I say that this term has no place in my dictionary," he said late August.
Tunisia's parliament announced last month that the Committee on Rights and Freedoms had started looking into introducing a draft law urging the criminalizing of normalization acts with "Israel."
