Calls for Tunisia minister to be sacked for urging normalised ties with Israel

Tunisians burn posters bearing images of the US and Israeli flags during a demonstration against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. in Tunis, Tunisia on 8 December 2017 [AFP PHOTO/FETHI BELAID /Getty]

Tunisian politicians, journalists and activists called for the country’s Tourism Minister Roni Trabelsi to be sacked after he was accused of attempting to normalise ties with Israel, Anadolu reported yesterday.

These calls came following his call to grant travel paper for Jewish pilgrims from Israel who are of Tunisian origins, causing controversy among locals.

Speaking to the German news agency, he said that 90 per cent of Jewish pilgrims from Israel who visit Tunis are of Tunisian origins and they have the right to return to their country and have their entry facilitated.

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Commenting on Trabelsi’s remarks, the political analyst Lahbib Boujeela said: “These remarks include an explicit call for normalising ties with those who were referred to by the minister as Israelis of Tunisian origins.”

Speaking to Anadolu, he added: “The Israelis of Tunisian origins have committed a legal violation by moving to the occupation state and living there. They left voluntarily and used their religious affiliation to become settlers and occupiers.”

He said that the minister’s remarks “undermine Tunisian sovereignty” because Tunis is aligned with the Palestinian cause which is an Arab issue.

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