UAE Takes Advantage of COVID-19 to Normalize with Israel

Several Israeli media reported on Thursday that Morocco refused to allow the repatriation of Israeli nationals stranded on its territory.

Israel and the UAE have angered Rabat after scheduling a joint flight to repatriate Israeli and Emarati tourists stranded in Marrakech and Casablanca. The countries failed to disclose all of the flight’s details to Moroccan authorities.

Quoting Israeli Army Radio, the Jerusalem Post reported that the UAE had offered to help Israel to return its stranded nationals home through evacuation flights.

The North African country was surprised to discover that both Israel and the UAE agreed to evacuate their citizens in a joint flight without consulting Morocco.

UAE organized a return flight for its citizens in Morocco, repatriating 180 Emiratis this week. Seventy-four UAE citizens are still stuck in the North African country.

Morocco expressed that its lockdown and border closures seek to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard the lives of its citizens and tourists alike.

Rabat said it had not authorized the Israelis on its soil to travel to occupied Palestine, after the lockdown and border closures, seeking to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard the lives of its citizens and tourists alike.

Morocco considered the Israeli-Emirati agreement an insult to it, because the matter required consulting Rabat from the beginning for acceptance or rejection.