Israelis welcome Morocco deal recognizing ties

Jerusalem (Reuters) – Israelis welcomed the normalization of diplomatic ties with Morocco, announced by US President Donald Trump on Twitter on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the announcement, calling the deal between Israel and Morocco as an “historic peace between us.”

Netanyahu said it would lead to direct flights between Morocco and Israel and that the fourth US-brokered deal between Israel and an Arab country in recent months would be a “very warm peace.”

“I hope that it’s just going to be the beginning of more diplomatic achievements between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, and North Africa,” said Tamir Gofschteim, a resident in Tel Aviv.

Morocco was the Muslim country from which the greatest number of Jews emigrated to Israel after the 1948 creation of the state. A small Jewish community remains in the North African country.

The news broke in Israel as Jews marked the first night of the Hanukkah festival of lights, commemorating the 2nd century BC victory of Judah Maccabee and his followers in a revolt in Judea against armies of the Seleucid Empire and the ensuing restoration of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.