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Rabat- King Mohammed VI has reportedly introduced an initiative to restore hundreds of historical Jewish sites in Morocco, various Israeli sources have reported.
Morocco is the only country in the Muslim-Arab world where the state funds projects to restore Jewish cemeteries and renovate Jewish neighborhoods and religious sites.
According to Israeli news outlets, the renovation includes “hundreds of synagogues, cemeteries, and Jewish heritage sites in several cities in Morocco, among them the Jewish cemetery in the city of Fes, which includes 13,000 graves.”
In what appears to be a part of the rapprochement between Rabat and Israel, Morocco also intends to reinstate the original names of some of the country’s Jewish neighborhoods.
Israel, as well as the European Jewish Congress, an organization representing European Jewry, have welcomed the initiative.
“We warmly welcome the initiative by HM King Mohammed VI of Morocco to restore hundreds of historical Jewish sites in Morocco,” noted the Congress in a Twitter statement on Monday.
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It is not the first time that Jewish organizations or Israeli officials have expressed their satisfaction with Morocco’s honoring of Jewish culture.
Last year, Israeli former President Reuven Rivlin thanked King Mohammed VI and Morocco for preserving coexistence and connections with its Jewish community.
The Moroccan monarch visited Bayt Dakira, a Jewish center dedicated to the legacy of Judaism in Essaouira. Members of Morocco’s Jewish community attended the ceremony.
Nearly a year after Morocco and Israel re-established their diplomatic relations, the two countries have signed several deals and partnerships that aim to boost bilateral cooperation on a broad range of fronts, especially defense, military, trade, and tourism.
Earlier this month, Morocco and Israel celebrated the first anniversary of ties re-establishment in a joint event.
In recent years, many Moroccan Jews residing abroad — including in Israel — have traveled to Morocco to explore the remnants of the country’s Jewish culture and history.
With the recent resumption of ties between Morocco and Israel, the North African country is expecting a marked increase in the number of Isreali or Jewish tourists planning to visit in the coming months.
The International federation of Jewish communities and organizations, the World Jewish Congress (WJC), estimates that there are approximately 2,300 Jews still living in Morocco.
