Tunisia’s parliament announced on 31 July that its Rights and Freedoms Committee is considering the implementation of a new law to criminalize normalization efforts with Israel.
The committee, lead by Halah Jaballah, a member of the Tunisian parliament, has begun studying the law’s possible implementation.
The committee presented a preliminary reading of the new law detailing its “importance to the Tunisian people in accordance with the unconditional national support for the Palestinian cause,” paying close attention to the terminology used in the formulation of the law to reflect the Tunisian people’s opinions and considerations.
The committee presented “a preliminary reading regarding the importance of the draft law for the Tunisian people, and its unconditional support for the just Palestinian cause,” according to a statement published on the government’s official Facebook page.
In August 2022, the Tunisian Ministry of Trade and Export Development stressed its commitment to the provisions of the Arab “boycott” of Israel in accordance with the principles of the League of Arab States, in response to reports about its commercial exchanges with Israel.
A Tunisian legislator ripped up an Israeli flag during a parliament session to push his demands for a law criminalizing relations with Israel.
A left-wing opposition coalition proposed a bill making it a crime to “normalize” relations with Israel, but the debate has been indefinitely delayed because parliament officials did not see at as a priority. Tunisia’s president has played down the proposed law.
Moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, part of the governing coalition, warned such a law could hurt Tunisia’s relations with western nations and international organizations.
Tunisia, like most Arab countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Tunisia was long seen as a model of tolerance in the region but has faced growing Islamic extremism.
Opposition lawmaker Ammar Amroussia tore the flag Tuesday to protest the delay, in images shown on national television.
Tunisia has not had ties with the occupation state since it was created on the land of Palestine in 1948.
However, in 2020 four Arab states signed normalisation agreements with Israel; the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
