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Marrakech – A recent article published on JFEED, a platform that describes itself as covering “the latest news from Israel and the Jewish world,” represents nothing short of diplomatic blackmail against Morocco and a calculated assault on its diplomatic sovereignty, directly targeting the country’s ambassador to the United States.
The inflammatory piece, authored by Mustapha Ezzarghani, who identifies as the Founder and President of The Moroccan-Israeli Friendship Association (MIFA), carries the provocative title: “Does an Anti-Semitic Family Represent Morocco in DC?”
The article levels unconscionable accusations against Ambassador Youssef El Amrani and his wife, writer and physician Asma Lamrabet.
Ezzarghani claims the ambassador has “failed to deliver meaningful results for Moroccan diplomacy” and alleges that under El Amrani’s leadership, “the Moroccan Embassy in Washington no longer maintains the open-door policy it once had for Jewish organizations and groups promoting ties between Morocco and Israel.”
More alarmingly, the article directly accuses both the ambassador and his wife of harboring “anti-Israeli sentiments and anti-Semitic views,” a particularly damaging allegation in the American political landscape where such accusations can effectively end careers.
The timing of this attack is particularly noteworthy – and transparently opportunistic. Ezzarghani frames his criticism within the context of Trump’s return to the White House and what he describes as a “unique opportunity for Morocco to strengthen its strategic ties with the US and Israel.”
By doing so, he attempts to pressure Morocco into submitting to external influence over its diplomatic corps – an act that constitutes nothing less than foreign interference in Morocco’s internal affairs.
Most egregiously, Ezzarghani has the audacity to declare that El Amrani’s appointment represents a “critical misstep” that could cause Morocco to “miss out on a moment of particularly strong geopolitical possibilities.”
This maneuver effectively presumes to dictate who should represent the kingdom in Washington, constituting an unacceptable intrusion into matters that fall exclusively within Morocco’s sovereign domain.
Article 55 of the Moroccan Constitution clearly states that ambassadors are appointed by the King. As such, an attack on a Moroccan ambassador is, by extension, an attack on the highest authority in the country.
What appears at first glance to be merely an opinion piece reveals itself upon closer examination to be a systematic attempt at diplomatic and moral assassination.
The target is not just Ambassador El Amrani and his wife, but the entire Moroccan model of diplomacy and the kingdom’s sovereignty in making independent diplomatic appointments.
The accusations collapse under the slightest scrutiny
Contrary to the narrative being pushed, the ambassador – since his appointment in October 2023 – has actively engaged in symbolic and high-level activities celebrating Moroccan Jewish heritage within the American Jewish community. His record of outreach contradicts any implication of disengagement.
He attended the “Hilloula” celebration in Florida, where he spoke about the strong ties between the Moroccan Jewish community and their original country, bringing to light the “royal care” for the Hebraic component of Moroccan identity.
El Amrani also attended the “Mimouna” celebration in Washington, an occasion celebrating Jewish-Islamic coexistence, where he delivered speeches stressing Morocco’s unique traditions in cultural and religious diversity.
In a seminar organized by a major Jewish coalition just this past May, El Amrani stated that “Morocco teaches the Holocaust in its school curricula.” That statement, regardless of its precise accuracy, demonstrates a diplomat fully aware of what Jewish memory means in American political culture.
The allegations against Asma Lamrabet are equally outrageous. This respected intellectual, a member of the Academy of the Kingdom – Morocco’s highest cultural institution – is known for advocating reformist readings of Islamic texts and defending women’s rights in international scientific forums.
Her intellectual and cultural activities are filled with events and dialogues with various religions. She was even behind communications with the first Jewish “female rabbi,” the French “Pauline Bebe,” convincing her to engage with Morocco.
To label such a figure “anti-Semitic” based on her humanitarian concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza represents intellectual dishonesty of the highest order.
Morocco’s representatives must not merely accept Israel but actively “love” it?
However, the article’s most alarming feature lies not in its content alone but in what it reflects: a growing audacity among certain advocacy circles to intervene in Morocco’s internal decision-making, impose loyalty tests, and exploit accusations of anti-Semitism as political weapons.
Particularly insidious are the efforts to attribute to the ambassador’s spouse personal views and actions that have no bearing on the ambassador’s official duties. The article goes further by warning of potential reputational harm to Morocco in US media and congressional circles.
In the American political context, accusations of anti-Semitism are particularly insidious. Such charges function as career-destroying weapons. When such allegations are made by a Moroccan citizen against another Moroccan diplomat, observers warn it constitutes public blackmail and an attempt to weaponize US discourse for personal or political ends.
Ezzarghani, who positions himself as a civil society figure, is also the public face of MIFA – a lobbying entity operating in Washington. His attack, according to sources, stems from personal disappointment – reportedly due to not receiving an invitation to the Moroccan embassy’s Throne Day celebration this year – rather than any substantive concern for national policy.
Launched under the guise of advocacy, this campaign has been described by analysts as a soft coup attempt on Moroccan diplomatic sovereignty – executed through media articles and extended via back-channel pressure.
It sends a dangerous message: normalization with Israel is no longer sufficient; Morocco must now demonstrate affection, or risk being defamed and accused of bigotry.
Such a message has serious implications. According to analysts, targeting Morocco’s ambassador in this way risks eroding national consensus around foreign policy by subjecting it to the whims of external lobbies operating from Washington and Tel Aviv.
It seeks to force the kingdom into a position where it must present its credentials daily to a Moroccan-Zionist lobby in Washington – one that views Morocco not as an equal partner, but as a subordinate extension or mere backyard of Israel’s strategic interests.
This episode has therefore become more than a personal attack. It is a warning bell. Those who tolerate the humiliation of their representatives under the guise of “protecting national interests” may soon wake up to find that Morocco’s very decision-making apparatus has been compromised.
Observers note that the promoters of slogans like “We are all Israelis” have effectively positioned themselves as ideological enforcers in Washington, condemning not just official policy but personal thoughts, social media posts, and even unspoken beliefs that fail to enthusiastically glorify Israel’s actions – particularly in Gaza.
JFEED, the platform publishing this attack, was established recently in 2023 by a right-wing religious Zionist named Eli Kutilf. It targets English-speaking Jewish communities, with most of its editors based in America and Israel, and adopts a fanatical biblical vision promoting what they call the right of Jews to establish Greater Israel.
The case raises broader questions about freedom of thought. As some commentators have pointed out, Washington – long seen as a city founded on the principles of liberty and protected by the First Amendment in a land that has prided itself on freedom for nearly 250 years – now risks becoming a space where opinions, posts, or even beliefs that fail to conform to pro-Israel orthodoxy are met with public condemnation.
Ultimately, Morocco’s diplomatic sovereignty is non-negotiable. Efforts to undermine it through intimidation or media manipulation must be recognized for what they are: a challenge to the kingdom’s right to independently manage its foreign affairs, free from external coercion.
Read also: Ambassador Youssef Amrani Says War on Gaza Has Frozen Cooperation Between Arab Countries, Israel
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