RABAT (Dispatches) — Tens of thousands of Moroccan Jews left the North African kingdom for Occupied Palestine in the 1960s under a covert program known as Operation Yachin, a move now seen as a turning point in the decline of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
The secret operation, orchestrated by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the Jewish Agency, resulted in nearly 90,000 Moroccan Jews—over half the country’s Jewish population—emigrating between 1961 and 1964. Israel reportedly paid Morocco compensation, with funds also coming from international Jewish organizations.
Before the migration, Morocco was home to roughly 225,000 Jews. Today, the community numbers about 2,000, making it the largest Jewish population remaining in North Africa.
Many who left later expressed regret. Some returned, disillusioned by poor living conditions, discrimination, and broken promises in Occupied Palestine. “It was not the land we imagined,” said Fanny Mergui, 80, who migrated in 1961. “I saw people crying as they left—not with joy, but despair.”
While Zionist youth movements in Morocco presented Israel as a homeland and symbol of modernity, some migrants found themselves in poverty-stricken neighborhoods with limited infrastructure and faced social marginalization as Mizrahi Jews.
Moroccan Jewish author Jacob Cohen, who remained in Morocco, called the migration a “tragedy”. “Morocco lost a vibrant community that could have contributed to its development,” he said. “And Jews lost a civilization that had taken 1,500 years to flourish.”
Though Morocco has since made efforts to preserve its Jewish heritage—establishing a Jewish museum, restoring cemeteries, and incorporating Jewish history into the school curriculum—experts say the community’s survival is precarious.
Most Moroccan Jews say they live peacefully. Restaurateur Haim Crespin in Rabat said his decision to stay was practical rather than political. “Not every Jew’s reason to stay is political. My family had a good life here,” he said.
The 2020 normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel under the Abraham Accords has stirred debate among Moroccan Jews. Some, like activist Sion Assidon, oppose Israeli policies in Palestine, while others remain politically disengaged.
Cohen believes the community is “on the verge of extinction.” “Everything is being done to preserve it, but its end seems inevitable,” he said.