Morocco Investment Rumors Debunked: Jewish Leaders Deny Outreach from Officials

Jaime Azancot approached the businessmen of the cities of Ceuta and Melilla to verify the information. They all stated that they had received no calls from any Moroccan royal palace officials to convince them to settle in the border areas of Morocco, mainly near Beni-Enzar and Fnideq, thus confirming that it was "fake news".

The president of the Israelite community of Melilla believes that if this information were well-founded, it would have been the subject of an official communication and would have been published in the Moroccan newspapers, and not in a Spanish newspaper.

Regarding Morocco’s objectives of investing at a time when the border with Ceuta and Melilla is closed due to COVID-19, Azancot considers that "all this makes no sense".

In addition, Jaime Azancot reported that the majority of Jewish companies have cautiously resumed their activities, after three months of confinement. "We are trying to get through this crisis as best we can," he said. According to him, it is "absolutely essential" to provide assistance to businesses in order to relaunch the economy, especially the local one.