CAIRO: Egypt on Saturday said a new Israeli law giving Jews the exclusive right to self-determination in the country undermined the chances for peace in the Middle East and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
The law, which was passed on Thursday, has drawn rebuke from the EU and was denounced by the Palestinian Authority and Arab citizens of Israel as racist legislation.
“The Arab Republic of Egypt announces...its rejection of the law passed by the Israeli Knesset on the “national state for the Jewish people” law ... for its ramifications that consecrate the concept of occupation and racial segregation,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“It undermines the chances for achieving peace and reaching a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian issue,” it said.
It said the law would also have a potential impact on the right of Palestinians displaced from their homes in 1948 when Israel was founded, and their descendants, to return to their homes under United Nations resolutions.
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to forge a peace treaty with Israel under the US-sponsored Camp David accord that provided for the Jewish state to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula.
But relations between two countries remained lukewarm, with Egypt demanding that Israel quit other lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, including the Syrian Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem.
On Friday, Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, the most prestigious Sunni Muslim institution, denounced the Israeli law calling it “a step that reflects repugnant racism“
Egypt says Israel’s Jewish nation-state law undermines Middle East peace
Egypt says Israel’s Jewish nation-state law undermines Middle East peace
- Egypt on Saturday said a new Israeli law giving Jews the exclusive right to self-determination in the country undermined the chances for peace
- The law, which was passed on Thursday, has drawn rebuke from the EU and was denounced by the Palestinian Authority
Morocco pushes to reform social security system amid inflation and economic pressure, PM says
- Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Aziz Akhannouch said his government had expanded healthcare to more than 80 percent of its population
DUBAI: Morocco’s prime minister said on Tuesday that the country was pursuing radical social and economic reforms in the wake of inflationary and economic pressures.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Aziz Akhannouch said his government had expanded healthcare to more than 80 percent of its population, up from just 42 percent when he took office three years ago.
He said this also coincided with consistently strong economic growth and headline inflation reducing to below 1 percent.
“In a world that doubts itself, Morocco has decided to protect its population, reform and look forward,” he told attendees in Davos.
In late 2025, Morocco was rocked by its largest demonstrations in over a decade as youth‑led groups mobilized nationwide against deteriorating public services, deepening social inequality, and chronic unemployment.
Akhannouch said the country was aware of the difficulties facing Moroccans and was determined to ensure the country would remain on a positive trajectory.
Part of this included the provision of financial aid to more than 12 million citizens, and the formation of trusts for orphans to be paid out when they turn 18.
“Health means dignity, if you want to have a decent life you have to have good health,” he said.
Nevertheless, Akhannouch noted that the government had not forgone its budgetary principles — and had in fact balanced the country’s debt payments and achieved successful fiscal reforms. He noted S&P’s decision in 2025 to raise Morocco’s sovereign rating to BBB‑/A‑3 and restore its investment‑grade status.
Speaking on the World Cup, set to be co-hosted with neighbors Spain and Portugal in 2030, he said the project was seen as a nation-building exercise that would help spur Morocco to develop its underlying infrastructure and provide employment opportunities for young Moroccans.
“It will be a growth accelerator,” he said.
“When we build new rail networks and upgrade cities it will have a long-term impact on people.”
