The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged the Federal Government, state governments, and public agencies across Nigeria to reject any form of business relationship with the State of Israel, warning that such engagements amount to “romancing with a terrorist state.”

The organisation’s reaction follows Monday’s announcement in Abuja by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel-Harpaz of a partnership between Israel’s foreign ministry and Nigeria’s foreign ministry to support 40 startups in the country.

The initiative, according to Israeli officials, is aimed at boosting innovation and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

However, in a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, MURIC’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, condemned the development, describing it as “morally wrong” and “deeply insensitive” given Israel’s ongoing military operations in Palestine.

“MURIC hereby expresses strong reservations about this deal. It suffers from acute desertification of conscience.

“It is morally wrong for Nigeria to sign any business deal with Israel at a time the Zionist state is at loggerheads with the rest of the world. Israel has defied the United Nations. The genocidal state mocks all 193 member countries of the UN,” Akintola stated.

According to MURIC, Israel’s military actions have led to the deaths of more than 60,000 Palestinians since 7 October 2024, with women and children making up the majority of casualties.

The group alleged that even Christians have been killed inside churches, while the blockade on Gaza has left Palestinians facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and essential supplies.

“Doing business with Israel at this moment is akin to dancing on the graves of those innocent women and children massacred by a belligerent, war-mongering and recalcitrant state. Every single sheqel from the Bank of Israel is blood money,” Akintola said.

MURIC argued that any financial or trade engagement with Israel directly supports what it called “genocide-infested businesses” and undermines the global push for justice and accountability over alleged human rights violations.

The group called on all levels of government in Nigeria, federal, state, and local, to “resist the temptation” of Israeli investments, insisting that morality and human dignity should take precedence over economic gains.

It also urged Nigerian citizens, civil society groups, and the private sector to shun Israeli partnerships.

“Any business deal with Israel is a romance with a terrorist state,” the statement concluded.

The Federal Government is yet to issue an official response to clarify whether the startup partnership will proceed as planned.