Moroccan bloggers arrive in Israel to boost post-normalisation tourism

A group of Moroccan journalists and bloggers arrived in Israel on Monday as part of an initiative by the Israeli foreign ministry to encourage more tourists to enter from Morocco.

The bloggers will tour Israeli for five days, where they will visit the contested city of Jerusalem, Haifa, Yokneam, and other cities, according to Israel Hayom.

This comes weeks after Royal Air Maroc (RAM) said it would start regular direct flights to Israel. A new service linking the cities of Casablanca and Tel Aviv will take off on 12 December, two days after the first anniversary of Morocco's normalisation with Israel.

The service aims to "respond to the needs of the Moroccan community in Israel which has strong links with its country of origin", the airline said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency at the time.

Last month, Morocco announced that it will be competing in Miss Universe for the first time in 42 years, despite calls to boycott the pageant which is being held in Israel.

Casablanca-born Fatima-Zahra Khayat was chosen as the contestant.

"After an absence of 40 years, Morocco is back in Miss Universe. Today, I’m proud to be the ambassador of @missuniversemorocco for this year 2021," she said in an Instagram announcement.

"I want to thank all the people that were here to support me and encourage me
I will represent the moroccan women the best way in @missuniverse the next 12 December. Moroccan and proud to be 🇲🇦✨"

Morocco was one of four Arab countries - along with the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan - to normalise relations with Israel last year under US-engineered accords that sparked anger amongst Palestinians and much of the rest of the Arab world.