Tunisia calls for probe into Israel participation in tennis competition

Tunisian President Kais Saied affirmed, Wednesday, “Tunisia’s basic position rejecting the normalisation of relations with Israel, under any form,” calling for launching an investigation into the participation of a French-Israeli player at an international tennis tournament in the capital Tunis.

Israeli player, Aaron Cohen, has participated in a regular international tennis tournament held in Tunisia since Sunday, local media reported.

According to a statement, President Saied met with Minister of Youth and Sports, Sonia ben Sheikh, and “discussed issues related to youth and sports, in particular, the participation of a tennis player with dual citizenship, who entered Tunisia with a French passport, but played his matches on an Israeli licence.”

Tunisian Republican Party Secretary-General Essam Chebbi called on President Saied earlier Wednesday to open an investigation into the participation of the Israeli player in the international tournament held in Tunisia.

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Chebbi posted on his Facebook page addressing Saied: “I am calling on you to initiate an urgent initiative, in cooperation with the caretaker government and the specialised sports bodies, to open an investigation into allowing a player, who holds Israeli citizenship, to participate in three games, within an international tournament that Tunisia has organised.”

He added that this participation comes “at a time when the Palestinian issue is exposed to the most dangerous conspiracy since the Balfour Declaration, through the so-called Deal of the Century, which is based partially on Arab normalisation with the Zionist enemy.”

This came after US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the main guidelines of his plan to annul the Palestinian cause, known as the Deal of the Century, which includes the establishment of a “connected Palestinian State” in the form of an archipelago connected by bridges and tunnels without an airport or seaport; while its capital is composed by “parts of East Jerusalem,” instead of occupied Jerusalem, which will be the unified capital of Israel, according to the plan.