This seemed to have already been established. This Thursday, November 2, a bill was examined in the Tunisian Assembly of Representatives of the People (ARP) against any “normalization” of relations with Israel, condemning to very heavy prison sentences anyone who comes into contact with “the Zionist entity “, as called in the text. Even the President of the Tunisian Parliament Brahim Bouderbala described a “perfect harmony between the Parliament, the president and public opinion”, and we could then expect adoption without great commotion.
But things ultimately didn’t go as planned. Because it was this same Brahim Bouderbala who decided to adjourn the debate without a vote, due to a surprise decision by the President of the Tunisian Republic. The President of Parliament declared having been “informed by Kaïs Saïed that this bill […] would harm the security of Tunisia.” The debates did not resume this Friday, leaving a slight doubt about the future of this particularly liberticidal legislation.
From 6 to 12 years in prison
Tunisia is one of the most fervent supporters of the Palestinian cause: it is notably in this country that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was entrenched during the era of Yasser Arafat, from 1982 to 1994 It is also one of the states most hostile to Israel. Even during the warming of diplomatic relations between certain African and Middle Eastern countries with the Jewish state, Tunisia had always remained largely on the sidelines. President Saïed has gone so far as to assert in recent weeks that normalization represented “high treason”. A first version of this text against the “Zionist entity” had also been submitted this summer, well before the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 and Israel’s very violent response on Gaza, which triggered numerous demonstrations in support of Palestine and against the Jewish state in the country.
Enough to justify a toughening of the law against Israel. It now provides for sentences of 6 to 12 years in prison for any “communication, contact, propaganda, conclusion of contracts or cooperation, directly or indirectly, by natural or legal persons of Tunisian nationality with all natural and legal persons affiliated with the Zionist entity. Any interaction is also prohibited for Tunisians with “individuals, institutions, organizations, governmental or non-governmental entities” linked to Israel. In the event of a repeat offense, the sanction is clear: life imprisonment.
This law should notably affect the Tunisian Jewish population in a drastic way, logically more conducive to having relatives and/or contacts linked to Israel. Even if this is today more than marginal: today there are only a little more than 1000, living mainly on the island of Djerba, in the south of the country, while it was approaching 100,000 people. before Tunisia’s independence in 1956.
“We are determined to pass this law”
This postponement does not mean that this bill is buried. A few days earlier, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar had especially called for “studying the repercussions” of the text and taking “time” to examine it, deeming it impossible to “promulgate it in two days”. Even if on Tunisian national television, he was even a little more critical, in his own way: “Who are we incriminating? We have no relationship with the Zionist entity, so what are we? what are we criminalizing?”
However, the Tunisian elected officials most in favor of the law are far from giving up their fight, and are putting pressure on the government to ensure that it is passed as quickly as possible. “We are determined to pass this law,” declared for example MP Abderrazek Aouidet, who supports President Kaïs Saïed, affirming that it “in no way goes against the declared interests of Tunisia and absolutely does not affect not the proper functioning of state institutions. This law would in any case be a new blow against fundamental freedoms and rights in Tunisia, while NGOs like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch regularly denounce the authoritarian practices of President Kaïs Saïed.