 Let me assure you, we are now partners, partners in the same vision of safety, efficiency and high quality of service to our customers. My team and myself are committed to the success of Royal Helmohawk in Israel. Thank you for coming and I wish you good success. My dear CEO, allow me to give you some gift, it's a Israeli tradition to give to the CEO for the first flight, his first flight gift that has a symbol to the Israeli country, this is the menorah, the Israeli symbol, that symbol the Israeli state, so thank you very much. Thank you. The two only words that I managed to learn during the flight, it was so excited, they didn't have much time to learn, not something so, manish ma, distinguished guests and partners, your excellencies, madara pedidot, Mr. CEO, chairman, dear friends and partners, ladies and gentlemen, I'm of course really proud and honored to be here with you today for this historic moment, it's a moment that marked the first arrival of a Royal Helmohawk flight connecting the Kazablanca Mohamed V airport to the Tel Aviv-David-Bengurian International Airport. This new direct route, as said Mr. CEO, this direct route will definitely bring our people even closer, this is the main objective of our mission as airline industry to bring and connect people, indeed reinforce human culture and economic exchanges between our two nations. Those connections are built, as you can imagine, especially from Morocco, it's built on the strong historical ties that have linked our monarchy, this monarchy has always had strong ties and strong relationship with the Jewish community of Moroccan origins, so it's a natural flight that we are launching today, the one that connects a family. The Kazablanca Tel Aviv flight will strengthen this relationship, it will, of course, ease the travel of the Moroccan community living here in Israel to take them back to their homeland, but it will also bring even closer our businesses and our business communities who have committed for months now to an unprecedented partnership that covers economic and commercial areas, a partnership that looks very promising in the forthcoming years. Last but not least, it will also ease access for all Israelis to discover a new touristic destination. Morocco is a unique destination with unique attractions offering endless possibilities for travel lovers. As you certainly know, the Kingdom of Morocco boasts exceptional assets thanks to its history, its human diversity and its geographical location at the crossroad between Europe, Africa and the east and west. It also enjoys rich cultural influences, including the Hebraic Moroccan one, which is integral to the Kingdom's military identity. The cultural heritage, nature and adventure components, but also the coastlines between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, which extends over 3,500 kilometers or all make Morocco a unique destination with a wide range of experiences. Our dear Israeli friends, all our passengers, whether they are visiting Morocco for leisure or for business, will definitely benefit on board our aircraft from the warm Moroccan welcome and from a safe and personalized and quality of service. This is completely certified with the four-star SkyTrucks award that we have now for the sixth year on the road. Through our Casablanca hub, our Israeli clients will also be able to take advantage of one of the continent's most dynamic network with direct regular connections to more than 80 destinations, especially flights to the African continent Europe. We are the biggest African carrier connecting Africa to Europe and the US and Canada. Those destinations are important for the Israeli community who wants to travel abroad. So Casablanca could become one of the most important hubs for your passengers. Thanks to Ryan Murroc's membership in OneWord, we are a member of the OneWord Alliance, which is, as you know, a world-class alliance. We can now connect and make our customers in Israel connect to more than 1,000 destinations around the world. So to conclude, and I'm sure you've understood the message, we are really excited to welcome you on board. We are excited to make you work, to welcome you aboard. We are excited to welcome you in Morocco, to make you feel like home, and to take you to this preferred destination that has become, since today, Morocco. So hopefully you will spend your vacations in Morocco starting tomorrow. Thank you. We also have some traditions, and they are the same, actually. Thank you very much. Thank you again. It's a small plane. The big one is here. Thank you. Thank you. If you have questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. Hello. I'm going to answer in English if I may. We have always been visitors coming from Israel to Morocco, even if there were no direct flights. So we used to have around 80,000, 70,000 to 80,000 tourists coming to Morocco. I think that the first year we will triple these numbers to achieve around 200,000 to 140,000. So this is the target for the first year. But the objective is to go beyond these targets. We are very optimistic. Again, they have always been strong ties between both communities. So beyond the Moroccan, the Jewish community from Moroccan origins, I'm sure that as a touristic destination, we will, of course, attract lots of tourists from Israel. And both ways, when I look at our guests today inside the plane, they were so excited to come as tourists and to visit Tel Aviv, to visit Jerusalem and Al Quds. And it's important for everybody to come and to make those links be very strong. It's difficult for us to assess the figures. I'm sure there will be lots of excitement to come. You're watching a live press conference. The CEO of Royal Air Morocco, Amid Adal, is taking questions right now. He has been speaking about the connections between Israel and Morocco after this historic flight touching down in Tel Aviv. Let's go back and take a listen to what he has to say. It's much easier for Moroccans to come. It's the beginning. There's always some difficulties in the beginning. But I'm sure the visa process will be much easier. And it will help, of course, the business and help people to come, inshallah, in the future. Now, for the beginning, we will start with Kazablanca as an airline. Our partner, El Al, is flying already to Marrakech. Let's build the market first and make it grow in a very decent and efficient way. And in the future, I'm sure there's room for everybody. Our guests today were some of them tour operators and hoteliers. They are very excited again about coming here to visit their colleagues in Israel and to bring more tourists from Morocco in both ways. So when you start the route, of course, this brings new opportunities. I'm very confident about that. Between Tel Aviv for us, between Tel Aviv and Kazablanca, we will start with four frequencies per week, which is on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays. Then we will certainly move very quickly to five. We've already planned this in the upcoming weeks. I'm sure that very, very soon we will go to daily flights between the two cities. And then the connections from Kazablanca to all African cities. We cover 35 airports in Africa, nearly on a daily basis. So there are many flights. We fly twice a day to New York City, to JFK airports, daily to two dailies to Montreal, Washington DC, Miami. So many flights in the Americas also. And then Europe. We have from Kazablanca at least seven flights a day to Paris only. So connections to Europe are very strong for us. We are again the biggest hub between Africa and Europe. The communities have always been there. So these are natural links from the communities. So today we have a tool, an additional instrument, which is these voices, which is the King of Morocco. We are an instrument to strengthen these links that have always existed. So for me, it's a natural path that takes place. As I explained a little earlier, the links also between the different countries. The CEO of Royal Air Morocco, Hamid Attam, taking more questions there at Ben Gurion International Airport. He is speaking shortly after touchdown from Kazablanca direct to Tel Aviv and talking about the connections that are going to be made now between people and in his words, connections between families. Speaking about the ability of people to travel as the world tries to return to some kind of normalcy. Still with me in studio. Danny Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the US and chairman of Silver Road Capital and our senior international affairs correspondent, Owen Altman. So we just heard there now at that press conference. The question was asked, Manish Ma in Hebrew, what is going on? What does this all mean? Owen, break it down the significance of what we're hearing right now. Yeah, obviously a very nice ceremony. Obviously a gracious CEO coming and wishing all well as he launches these flights. Speaking again about the connections that we talked about before the press conference, how this in a sense is a kind of multiplier of the relationship. I thought it was also interesting he's talked about the issue of connecting through Kazablanca. I don't know that it will be central on this route just by virtue of geography. But in some roots it makes sense to parts of West Africa. For example, a lot of flights that Israelis know this, those outside the country may not. A lot of routes from Israel to the African continent currently run through Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Airlines for geographical reasons among others. But for certain parts of West Africa, Montreal for example is an interesting connection through Kazablanca. So that shows another dimension of the relationship. It seems odd for a journalist to say but almost wishing he didn't take the questions. He ended on such a high with that handshake. It almost seemed as if the ceremony should properly end there. I also wonder, this is the first time I'm aware of it of the tradition of giving a menorah to the CEOs of the airlines. At the end of the day it is true that a menorah is a symbol of the State of Israel, Benita. It's also a Jewish religious symbol. And I wonder for some airline CEOs if that makes them feel a bit uncomfortable getting a gift like this one. Wonders if the Israeli Airports Authority could think of a gift that was maybe on more neutral ground that still represented the country and its beauty and its history but without the religious, particular religious symbolism of something that had been after all an artifact of the Jewish Temple. Ambassador, your thoughts on exactly that. I would say, Owen said he's very gracious. I was thinking he is the epitome of a salesman. I mean, he really was pitching for Morocco as a hub, not just for Morocco as a tourist place but also Kazablanca as a hub to Europe, to Africa, even to the American continent. I'm not sure Israelis would need that but it's enough that they would go to Morocco itself. I believe that in the wake of also the defense treaty now, almost the treaty between Israel and Morocco, this kind of rounds up the relationship, really cements it, and I think it's going very, very strong. Well, let's pick up on exactly that. The defense issue and the ties that are being built now between these two countries, Owen, it means particularly right now. Listen, it was historic when Defense Minister Benny Gantz made that visit to Morocco and signed that defense treaty. It's something that we are starting to see with Abraham Accord's countries. Of course, just a few days ago, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, Aviv Kokavi, visited Bahrain openly and met with the head of the Bahraini military and according to reports, also met with the head of the Qatari military, not exactly clear where. So obviously this seems to be a growing trend from Israel's perspective, a very important one. Obviously from Morocco's perspective too, they're obviously facing an ongoing insurgency in Western Sahara, which the Moroccans see as terrorism and presumably they could use, I'm sure, Israeli equipment and Israeli weapons and Israeli help in that fight. Going back to the tourism issue for one second, I do hope that casual Moroccan visitors who want to come and tour Israel are given the appropriate welcome by the authorities and that they don't encounter problems with visas or problems with the borders. Unfortunately, we've known that to happen to Arab visitors trying to come to Israel so that there really can be the fullness of the reciprocal ties. Obviously, the Israeli authorities have to be careful to manage the borders and to manage the country's security, but one hopes that there can be a way found to balance the two needs. Let's go back to Ben-Gurion International Airport to hear what's happening right now. To them I say welcome. Say welcome for all the communities. We have always been a land of tolerance. All the communities have been living freely in Morocco and we have always been welcoming all the communities from any country in the world and from any religion and especially our Muslim brothers in the region. So, of course, welcome to everybody. Insha'Allah. You know that while we're on a road it takes years and years. So it's an investment. It takes years for it to be profitable. It's an investment. This road will perhaps be faster to be profitable, but it will take time. So we have to build the market. Today, I can't predict how much time but we're going to build the market together. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Morocco amid a dial wrapping up that press conference at Ben-Gurion International Airport speaking about the opportunities that exist right now between the two countries and what it's going to mean for the connection between people and the connections between families. We alluded to a little bit earlier the cultural differences between Israel and Morocco. Now an opportunity, Ambassador, for people to find out more, learn more, talk to us about what that is going to entail for both countries at the moment. As we mentioned, I guess about 20% of Israelis are of Moroccan descent. Mostly now they have been born here but they're very strong on traditions and when it comes to culture they have their special food, their special customs, especially when you have the Mimuna, the seventh day of Passover is a special day that has been celebrated by the Moroccan Jews. And all Israelis, you know, there is no Israeli that I know that have not been invited by a friend to a Mimuna. So I guess this is just a little bit of Moroccan culture here which will open really a wide, wide gate for a flood of experiences over there. By the way, it's not just a matter of customs. There are many religious sites, old synagogues there from the time of after the expulgence from Spain. So you have their very, very old Jewish sites in Morocco as well as I know personally from many friends who go there for the jeep trips in the desert. These are also very, very popular by Israelis. We've been in the military, so they like to experience that also in the desert of Sahara. You know, after Benita, after we have returned the Sinai desert to Egypt almost 40 years ago, we don't have much. We have the negi, but it's not enough, you know, in Sahara you can reenact this, you know, great expenses of desert scenery. So I'm sure many, many will come here. We have the religious sites for Moroccans, especially in Jerusalem, but not only in archaeology and also fun. I mean, just to underline something, Johnny Allen was saying, the Mimouna holiday, the night after the Passover holiday, it's in another month and a half, so we could well see again, assuming we continue to exit this pandemic and with more and more direct flights, start to see Mimouna really celebrated by the end of the month. So I think that's the explanation point on this entire relationship. And you can't factor out the points that it's been the better part of two years that people haven't been able to travel and people have that bug and they really want to get out there and learn more and experience more. Yes, and Morocco is also one of the countries that suffered like many other countries. It was a very interesting trip, very interesting trip. The touristic dollars and this is why we saw a very avid and a very enthusiastic salesman here, a very nice guy as well as the Moroccan air chairman who came here especially. I think it was a very special, almost a moving ceremony, although it's a kind of a business thing, but it was much more than that. And nobody are undergoing very tough time. So I'm not sure if Morocco will see many tourists now from Russia or the Ukraine. We used to love to come there for the sun so the Israelis can certainly fill up the slack. And this is what the Moroccans are looking forward to. We certainly are going to be continuing with an in-depth look at what is happening in eastern Ukraine right now and what the latest is out of Russia. But I want to turn to something you alluded to, Ambassador, a little bit earlier on. Put you on the spot a little bit and ask you. We've spoken about the Abraham Accords and the countries that were prepared to normalize ties and then there was a dearth so to speak. Who is next? What are you hearing? What do you know? Well it seems like you know something that was unfederal maybe a few months ago that the Qatari Chief of Staff met the Israeli Chief of Staff Amir Kohavi in Bahrain. He was there. He was there in order to also further what Benny Gantz, Minister of Defense, also signed a defense cooperation with Bahrain. Who would have thought? According to the rumors or reports from Saudi Arabia, the Qatari and the Israeli Chief of Staff talked about maybe positioning Israeli radars on Qatari soil in order to actually alert from any incoming vehicles, I mean air drones or whatever, from Iran. This is something which is unprecedented and I believe next we will see Saudi Arabia. The fact that this news leaked about the Qatari Israeli meeting, it was leaked from a Saudi media site. It tells me that the Saudis are all behind it. They're the ones pushing Bahrain, they're pushing the Emirates, they're pushing Qatar and at the end of the day they will do it themselves. In any case right now the cooperation with Saudis under the radar is very expensive. It's very very effective to the detriment of the Iranians. Ambassador Danny Ayalon, the former Israeli Ambassador to the US and Chairman of Silver Road Capital and Senior International Affairs Correspondent Owen Altman, thank you both as always for your insight on this very important day. Right now we're taking a break. Our special edition coverage continues. Don't go anywhere back in a bit as we unpack the latest developments out of eastern Ukraine and bring you the latest updates out of Russia. Back in a bit. Stay tuned.