The African-Israeli summit scheduled for October 2017 in Togo, has been canceled according to several Israeli media platforms. Accordingly, the meeting supposed to be attended by the Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from 54 African countries, was put off because of the pressure put on the African nation by several Arab countries. «Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé, who has been facing mass demonstrations against his regime recently, has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he has canceled the Africa-Israel Summit slated for next month», indicated Haartz, an Israeli online newspaper. Benjamin Netanyahu was invited in August by the Togolese president, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, and was determined to be part of the gathering. However, several media outlets in Israel have claimed that Israel has been putting down the efforts made by several pro-Palestinian countries to prevent the summit. They have pointed numourus times at Morocco, insisting that it eyes competition in the Israeli attempt. Times of Israel said in August that «Morocco wants to become a superpower, and they understand that Africa is a major market for them». «Morocco's opposition to the summit has nothing to do with support for the Palestinians — zero. They just sees Israel as competitors, just like China, India or Japan», the same source added. On the other hand, a diplomatic source told Jerusalem Post that the delay had nothing to do with international pressure or domestic internal concerns, but was solely the result of Togolese unrest stemming from street protests against the government.
