Tunisia – Criminalization of normalization with Israel: Severe penalties envisaged

A proposed law aiming to criminalize normalization with Israel was studied by the Parliamentary Committee on Rights and Freedoms in Tunisia on October 11, 2023. According to this proposal, any person charged with normalization with the Zionist entity could be condemned to prison sentences. imprisonment varying from two to five years, accompanied by fines of ten to one hundred thousand dinars. The attempt at normalization would also be subject to the same sanctions as the violation itself.

The proposed law includes seven articles that define what the Zionist entity is, what constitutes a normalization crime, and the judicial powers to deal with these issues. According to this proposal, only the public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Tunis will be to initiate proceedings in matters of standardization.

It is important to note that several initiatives aimed at criminalizing normalization with Israel had been presented under prior legislatures in Tunisia. Nevertheless, these proposals encountered opposition, notably from the Islamist movement Ennahdha. In 2021, this party voiced preconditions for its support of the bill on the criminalization of normalization.

Tunisia has kept its official position in support of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian right to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. It therefore opposes normalization with Israel, unlike certain other Arab states which have concluded agreements with Israel in recent years.