A document circulating on Moroccan social media for several days has reopened one of the country’s most sensitive political fault lines: normalization with Israel and its domestic political echoes. The text, presented by its backers as the founding charter of a new party called « Hizb Al Wahda » (Unity Party) but quickly nicknamed in the press « the Moroccan Likud, » claims that paperwork has been filed with the Interior Ministry. The claim, picked up by several Moroccan outlets this Thursday, triggered swift skepticism from political and civil-society figures.
Aziz Hannaoui, secretary-general of the Moroccan Observatory Against Normalization, was among the first to respond publicly. In remarks reported Thursday, he questioned not only how serious the initiative actually is, but also who is really behind it. According to Hannaoui, simply claiming that administrative paperwork was submitted does not establish that a party legally exists: Moroccan law sets out specific conditions for founding a party, including territorial representation and financial transparency requirements that nothing in the circulating documents currently allows anyone to verify.
Hannaoui also drew a connection to a name he says is familiar from past initiatives: Al Houssein Ben Masoud, previously linked to a push for legislation that would let descendants of Moroccan Jews who emigrated abroad reclaim Moroccan nationality. For the activist, the choice of the name « Likud, » a direct reference to Israel’s governing right-wing party, is far from incidental. He argues it raises questions about what message the initiative’s organizers are trying to send, in a regional climate where the Western Sahara dispute and Morocco’s relationship with Israel remain politically charged topics.
So far, Morocco’s Interior Ministry has not confirmed that any such filing exists, and authorities have made no public statement on the matter. Several observers are urging caution, noting that the story currently rests almost entirely on unauthenticated documents shared online rather than any verified administrative record. Still, the episode underlines how closely any political initiative seen as tied to normalization with Israel continues to be scrutinized in Morocco, four years after Rabat and Jerusalem formally restored diplomatic ties.
