Earlier today a plan with 219 new immigrants from Ethiopia to Israel landed at Ben Gurion Airport.
The flight was the third to bring new Jewish olim from the African country as part of Operation Tzur Israel.
The operation is set to bring some 2,000 members of the community to Israel.
The immigrants were welcomed by Absorption and Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata and officials from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and the Jewish Agency, which took part in the effort.
A child on a flight of immigrants from Ethiopia is seen after landing in Israel, December 22, 2020 (Avishag Shaar Yeshuv)
“Operation Tzur Israel is in full swing,” said Tamano-Shata. “Through the end of January, and in accordance with the government decision I approved last October, a plane carrying hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants will land in Israel almost every week, until the 2,000 people who have waited many years to arrive in Israel are reunited with their families.”
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A joint Israeli-American delegation makes its first stop in the Moroccan capital, visiting the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V.
From there, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump Jared Kushner are traveling to the Royal Palace of Rabat to begin a series of meetings before signing a number of bilateral and trilateral agreements to solidify the normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco.
The mausoleum, which is technically a mosque, contains the remains of King Mohammed V, who died in 1961, along with his sons, King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. The arabesque tomb is considered an important national monument.
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Senior officials in the Israeli and Moroccan foreign ministries have concluded their first meeting in Rabat, agreeing to deepen ties between the two countries by rapidly reopening their respective liaison offices, the Israeli Foreign Ministry says.
During the meeting, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Upshitz and Moroccan Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry Mahsan Al-Jazouri also discussed the details of several agreements due to be signed later in the day at the King’s palace.
Israel and Morocco maintained limited ties from the 1970s to 2000, when Rabat called them off with the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The ties included diplomatic offices though not embassies in each other’s countries. As these properties were never sold, the two countries can more easily reopen them.
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The heads of a joint Israeli-American delegation to Rabat have completed a series of high-level talks with Moroccan officials, including King Mohammed VI.
National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump Jared Kushner have arrived at the royal palace’s guest house to sign a number of bilateral and trilateral agreements on a variety of issues, including visas, water, tourism and agriculture.
Meir Ben-Shabbat (C) flanked by Jared Kushner (R) and David Friedman (L), speaks ahead of the departure of the first direct flight between Israel and Morocco, at Ben Gurion Airport, December 22, 2020 (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
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Channel 13 News reports that the leaders of Blue and White, Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, are considering stepping down from politics and not running in the next election.
Blue and White is collapsing in polls and is projected to win 5-6 seats in the next election, over its electorally disastrous decision to enter Benjamin Netanyahu’s government after pledging not to do so during its election campaign.
Blue and White chief Benny Gantz and MK Gabi Ashkenazi at an election campaign event in Kfar Saba, on Feb 12, 2020. (Gili Yaari / Flash90) I m proud to work at The Times of Israel