Peres Says His Meeting with Hassan Got Widespread Support from Morocco’s Leading Parties and Organiz

The recent meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Moroccan King Hassan met with widespread support from Morocco’s leading parties and organizations, Peres said Wednesday night.

Asked about his visit with Hassan, Peres said contacts with Morocco were being maintained since his return home. “The answer is positive — they have been held, are being held, and will be held,” he said. He said he couldn’t give full details, “but what I saw in Morocco was something unprecedented in an Arab state. Even in Egypt, this does not exist. All three of the large parties in Morocco, including the Communist Party, came out with statements of support for the meeting between Hassan and myself.”

In addition, Peres said, the press, the unions and even the Moroccan soccer teams sent letters and telegrams of support for the King. “This is altogether something unprecedented… Legitimization has been given to dialogue with Israel,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the relatively mild response to his meeting with Hassan by Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi was “the most surprising thing in this whole matter.”

“I see this as a change in the political map in the Arab world in an immediate fashion. The rejectionist camp has become smaller and the camp supporting dialogue grew,” Peres observed, adding there was now “an even greater potential for change.”