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“50,000 Israelis went to Dubai very recently and what is happening there is a revolution because the citizens of the United Arab Emirates welcomed them warmly (…) and the same will now happen in Rabat and Casablanca,” Netanyahu said.
The first direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco took off on Tuesday, as one of the first achievements of the new accord between the two countries – Morocco is the fourth country in the Arab world to recognise Israel.
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of outgoing US President Donald Trump, spoke on the occasion along with Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu. Kushner, who is credited as the architect of the Trump “Peace Plan” for the Middle East, thanked King Mohammed VI for agreeing to the accord, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan had done the same this year, while Egypt had recognised Israel in 1977.
“50,000 Israelis went to Dubai very recently and what is happening there is a revolution because the citizens of the United Arab Emirates welcomed them warmly (…) and the same will now happen in Rabat and Casablanca,” Netanyahu said.
Morocco is home to North Africa’s largest Jewish community, which has been there since ancient times and grew with the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain by Catholic kings from 1492.
Palestinian leaders have, however, strongly rejected the “Peace Plan. Palestinians, from the secular Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas to the Islamists of Hamas, oppose these agreements, arguing that normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab world should have taken place only after an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and not before.
Prior to the pandemic, Morocco received 50,000 to 70,000 Jewish tourists each year, most of whom did not come directly from Israel.
“You will see that this peace between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East region is beginning to create a new, positive dynamic between Jews and Arabs within Israel itself,” Netanyahu added.
On the Tel Aviv-Rabat flight was a joint Israeli-American delegation for the signing of several bilateral and trilateral agreements. Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, who is leading the trip on the Israeli side, said these would include agreements on aviation, tourism, health, water, agriculture and other issues.
In return for recognising Israel, Morocco fulfilled a long-held goal of receiving US backing for its contested sovereignty in Western Sahara.
Negotiations ahead the Tel Aviv-Rabat flight included the opening of a US consulate in Western Sahara, and a series of US investments in Morocco.
At the same time, Israel and Morocco are due to reopen diplomatic offices and activate economic cooperation between them.
The flight is also expected to be followed by the creation of an airline joint venture between the two countries as well.
REUTERS
