Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. has approved a reorganization of the country’s Jewish community, which is a “part” of the national culture in the North African country, according to the royal palace.
The measures were presented to a council of ministers attended by the country’s monarch and crown prince at Rabat’s royal palace on Wednesday.
According to the official MAP news agency, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit proposed the establishment of new representative bodies on “royal orders” and recognized Jewish tradition as “an integral part of the rich Moroccan culture”.
The measures came on the same day that US President Joe Biden landed in Israel on his first presidential visit to the Middle East.
In a speech at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, he promised to “promote Israel’s integration into the region.”
Morocco established diplomatic relations with the Jewish state in 2020.
The kingdom’s Jewish community is estimated at 3,000 people, the largest in North Africa.
After consultations with Jewish leaders, King Mohammed’s initiative will create a National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community, a Foundation of Moroccan Jewry tasked with protecting the heritage of the community, and a Commission of Moroccan Jews Abroad.
The kingdom’s Jewish community dates back to ancient times and grew in the 15th century with the expulsion of the Spanish Jews.
By the 1940s their number had grown to 250,000, or 10 percent of the country’s population, but mass emigration ensued after the founding of Israel in 1948.
Approximately 700,000 Israelis claim to be of Moroccan descent and maintain strong ties to their country of origin.
This new organization of Moroccan Jewry has coincided with growth in a number of areas of Moroccan-Israel relations.
Israel and Morocco established diplomatic ties in December 2020 under the US-backed Abraham Accords, during which several Arab countries normalized relations with the Jewish state.
King Mohammed’s presence at the meeting marked his second public appearance in three days, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, amid public concern about the monarch’s health following two heart surgeries since 2018 and a Covid-19 diagnosis in June.
On Sunday, the king held prayers at a royal residence in Sale near Rabat during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
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