The Negev Forum summit, which was scheduled to take place in Morocco in a few weeks, is expected to be postponed due to fears of a security flare-up during the month of Ramadan, political sources have told Israeli media.
Preparations for the second summit, scheduled to take place in Morocco, had been ongoing in recent months. The third meeting of the steering committee and the first meeting of all six working groups of the forum was held in Abu Dhabi a month ago, with over 150 participants.
During the two-day meeting, the working groups discussed projects and ideas for cooperation between the member states on topics such as energy, regional security, tourism, food and water security, education and tolerance, and health. The projects were supposed to be presented to the foreign ministers at the planned meeting.
However, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has received messages from the USA and Morocco in the past few days regarding the event’s date and location. Morocco reportedly fears a security flare-up in Israel, along with the tour of the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gabir to the Temple Mount and the statements he made there, which have caused concern in Rabat.
The event, a gathering of foreign ministers from the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt, was founded about a year ago at the initiative of former foreign minister Yair Lapid.
The first summit was held in the Negev in March 2022, and it was agreed that the forum would meet once a year in the region’s deserts in one of the member states. Additionally, a steering committee consisting of six working groups was established, with representatives of the states as members.
Another reason for the postponement is the Biden administration’s reservations about the location where the Moroccans intended to hold the event in the Sahara region.
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