Rabat – Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University are launching the first exchange program between the two countries.
Ben-Gurion University is hosting four Moroccan university students for a summer semester. The Moroccan students are enrolled in the university’s data science and health system programs, according to a report from The Media Line, a Middle East-focused news outlet.
“It was interesting for me to learn how a health system is so much more than taking care of a single cell. It’s the bureaucracy, the people, the hospitals- and that’s so much more complicated than how I used to think of public health,” one of the Moroccan students told the news outlet.
Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel, Vice President for Global Engagement at Ben-Gurion University, also told the news website: “Although I have no Moroccan heritage in my family, once I stepped there, there was something very natural about it.”
The collaboration between UM6P and Ben-Gurion University comes two years after Morocco and Israel officially normalized their relationship and resumed diplomatic ties.
In December 2020, Morocco and Israel signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords, paving the way for future emerging collaborations.
Earlier this month, Israel announced plans to invest $4 million to construct an embassy in Morocco’s capital, Rabat.
Since the signing of the Abraham Accords, economic relations between the two countries have remarkably improved. Trade between Morocco and Israel almost doubled between 2020 and 2021, going from $70 million to $130 million.
Read Also: Israeli Theater Group To Perform in Morocco for First Time
