The first direct flight between Israel and Morocco was scheduled to depart Israel on Sunday morning some seven months after the two countries agreed to normalize relations.
Israir flight number 6H61 took off at 8:15am local time for the six-hour flight to Marrakech Menara Airport.
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Preparations in Ben Gurion Airport for the departure of the first direct flight between Israel and Morocco's Marrakech Airport
(Photo: Daniel Salami)
El Al flight number LY553 was set to take off at 11:20am local time.
The El Al flight lounge for the flight was decorated with Moroccan flags carpets, including Moroccan tea and pastries. Before take-off, the national carrier said it plans to operate five flights per week between Israel and Morocco.
Sunday's trips are technically the second and third direct commercial flights between the two countries following the re-establishment of diplomatic ties in December.
However, the flight between Tel Aviv and Rabat on December 22 carrying American and Israeli delegations led by then-White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and then-national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat was symbolic while Sunday's flights represent the start of regular routes.
Israel and Morocco agreed in December to resume diplomatic relations and relaunch direct flights — as part of a deal brokered by the United States that also included Washington's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
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Then-White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and then-national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat meeting with Morocco's King Mohammed IV
(Photo: GPO)
Morocco was once home to one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East for centuries until Israel's founding in 1948. As Jews fled or were expelled from many Arab countries, an estimated 250,000 Jews left Morocco for Israel from 1948 to 1964.
Today, only around 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco, while hundreds of thousands of Israelis claim Moroccan ancestry.