For the first time: an official event of Israel and Morocco at the UN | Israel Today

The Ambassador of Morocco joined the Israeli representative for the Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony with the participation of other diplomats • Arden said to his counterpart in Moroccan: "Welcome my dear brother"

• Ambassador Arden and Moroccan Ambassador // Photo: Ido Siman Tov - Israeli delegation to the UN

At the initiative of Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Ardan, a Hanukkah candle lighting event was held tonight (Friday) in the presence of Morocco's Ambassador to the UN, Omar Hillel, and with the participation of the Emirates' Ambassadors and Bahrain and other ambassadors.

This is the first and historic cooperation between Israel and Morocco at the UN, and the first official event of the countries since the announcement of the establishment of diplomatic relations. 

The event, which took place on behalf of the Israeli delegation to the UN and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy, was held under the auspices of the peace agreements signed by Israel and with the participation of UN ambassadors from around the world who represented all UN groups.

The event was broadcast via Zoom to UN delegations, the diplomatic community and Jewish organizations across the United States.

During the event, a special video was broadcast that included greetings and lighting of the menorah by the ambassadors of the Emirates, Bahrain and the United States.

The ambassadors of Australia, Italy, Guatemala, Rwanda, Albania and India also greeted them.

After the lighting of the first seven candles by the various UN ambassadors, Ambassadors Arden and Hillel lit the eighth candle together and spoke on the occasion of the establishment of relations between Israel and Morocco.

Ambassador Arden opened his remarks and said to Ambassador Hillel in Moroccan "Welcome my dear brother, I am very happy to host you here and I wish our peoples to celebrate many holidays together, if God wills."

Arden added: "If you had told me a few months ago that I would light Hanukkah candles with friends from the Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, I would have told you that this could not happen. Today we are showing the younger generation that anything is possible."

In his remarks, the Moroccan ambassador praised that Hanukkah is "the hope of tomorrow.

Hanukkah is peace, Hanukkah is coexistence.

Hanukkah is also about loving one another, saying 'no' to violence, building bridges between people, peoples and cultures.

There is no alternative to peace. '

"At the end of the day we are all the sons of Abraham, we must sit together to make peace together, to exist together and build a better future for the next generation," Hillel added.

US Ambassador Kelly Kraft: "The Abrahamic Agreements Turn 2020 into a Year of Peace." Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh: "Chanukah is another reminder that miracles happen." It is an opportunity to strengthen stability, prosperity and peace in the region. "