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Rabat – Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has expressed his country’s gratitude to Morocco for protecting Jews during the Holocaust.
The president sent a letter to King Mohammed VI to thank Morocco and its people for protecting the security and heritage of the Jewish community.
“The State of Israel and the Jewish people would like to express their gratitude and appreciation to Your Majesty and the people of Morocco who for generations have acted to protect the security, welfare, and cultural heritage of the kingdom’s Jewish community,” the Israeli president said in the letter.
The Israeli president’s message marked the second anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between Morocco and Israel.
In the letter, Herzog recalled the crucial role of the late King Mohammed V, the grandfather of King Mohammed VI, stressing that he is remembered among the Jewish community as the “protector and guardian of Jews in his realm.”
“When millions of Jews faced the horrors of the Holocaust in the twentieth century, King Mohammed V provided a safe haven for his Jewish subjects,” the Israeli president stressed.
King Mohammed V is remembered for his unprecedented protection of Jews from the anti-semitism that ravaged Europe during World War II, from 1939 to 1945.
The late King also rejected the Nazi-controlled Vichy government’s demand to deport 250,000 Jews to concentration camps in Europe.
“There are no Jewish citizens, there are no Muslim citizens. They are all Moroccans,” the late King Mohammed V said in response to the Vichy government’s request.
Morocco was home to as many as 200,000 Jews before Israel became a state. However, the North African country now only hosts 2,000 Jewish people out of the total Jewish population which exceeds 15.2 million in the world.
Jewish communities across the world have commended the Morocco-Israeli rapprochement. The two countries decided to re-establish relations in December 2020.
The decision led the two countries to sign a tripartite declaration along with the US to boost relations on all levels, including economy, trade, innovation, and political dialogue.
The tripartite declaration also resulted in the inauguration of direct flights between Morocco and Israel.
