Omani Shura votes on draft law that strengthens boycott of Zionist entity

MUSCAT, Dec. 27 (YPA) – Omani Shura Council on Monday voted on draft law allowing the boycott of the Zionist entity law to include sports, cultural and economic aspects.

This comes hours after the council referred a draft to amend Article 1 of the law to the Legislative and Legal Committee to complete the procedural aspects.

Deputy speaker of the council, Yaqoub Al-Harthy, said after the end of the regular session that the new proposal requires expanding the scope of the stipulated boycott, and leads to the criminalization of anyone dealing with the Israeli entity.

Al-Harthy added that the council members who submitted the request took into account the development in the technical, cultural, economic and sports fields, and they suggested making additional amendments to ban all aspects of Omani society from face-to-face or electronic communication with the Israeli entity.

This step comes after the Israeli entity has put pressure on the Sultanate of Oman in recent months to allow Israeli airlines to use their airspace for passage to the Far East.

The Sultanate is one of the first Arab countries to issue a special law to boycott the Israeli entity, as the late Sultan “Qaboos bin Said” issued it under No. 72/9.

In October 2018, the then-Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, made the first official diplomatic visit to Oman, during which he met Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who died in 2020. Four months later, Netanyahu met former Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi during a conference in Warsaw.

However, in July 2019, the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs published an explanation; It means that establishing diplomatic relations with the Israeli entity is not on the agenda, following the country’s nomination to join the “Abraham” agreements.

YPA