Morocco’s Jewish community in Marrakech celebrated the Israeli independence day with dance, songs, and barbecue for the first time in public at the backdrop of the Abraham accords.
“The small Jewish community in Marrakesh decided it was about time to stop hiding its celebrations for Israel each year and enjoy the fruits of the Abraham Accords,” wrote the Jerusalem Post.
The celebration was held with the finding from the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
“The Marrakesh community has contributed to Jewish spiritual and cultural treasures throughout history, and we are proud of our cooperation with them and with every Zionist community that supports the State of Israel,” Neria Meir, head of WZO’s Department of Zionist Activities in the Diaspora, spoke at the event via zoom.
In December 10, 2021, the American president, at the time, Donald Trump, announced in Twitter, the Moroccan normalization of ties with Israel and the American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory.
The recognition was followed by a signing ceremony in Rabat with the presence of several Israeli and Moroccan officials, as well as Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner. The Moroccan head of government, at the time, Saad Eddin El Othmani signed the deal with Israel amid his party’s condemnation of the accords.
The agreement was followed by launching direct flights between the two countries, and an official Israeli visit to Rabat by the Israeli Foreign minister Yair Lapid where he signed three cooperation agreements on political consultation, air services and culture with his Moroccan counterpart Naseer Bourita as well as opening an Israeli Liaison office in the Moroccan capital.
The first Israeli official visit to Morocco was in 1986, when King Hassan II hosted the Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres in Rabat.
Israel had a Liasion office in Rabat, decades before the Abraham accords, but it was closed in 2000 in protest of the Israeli violence policy during the second Intifada.
Since then, however, the informal ties have continued as an estimated 50,000 Israelis travel to Morocco each year on trips to learn about the Jewish community and retrace their family histories.
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