As head of Foreign Minister Golda MeirPrime Minister, 1969–1974. Gazit headed her office twice: when she was Foreign Minister in the late 1950s, and as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office from 1973.What they wanted: Security for Israel, and peace through direct negotiation, without a return to the 1967 lines.More on Golda Meir in “People and events” →’s office, Gazit took charge of one of the painful questions of the day: Morocco, independent since 1956, restricted the departure of its Jews, and Israel was looking for ways to let them emigrate. On 17 June 1959 Gazit sat in a coordination meeting on ways to advance their departure.
When an approach to the crown prince, King HassanKing of Morocco, 1961–1999; before that Crown Prince Moulay Hassan.More on King Hassan in “People and events” →, later King Hassan II, was considered, he was wary: “we must re-examine the matter and check to what extent the prince would be able to keep his promises, if indeed he were ready to make them”. He preferred “at this stage” to take “the normal route”, the diplomatic channel, to influence the king.
Only in 1961, through an agreement with the authorities, did the way open, and tens of thousands of Jews left Morocco for Israel in Operation Yakhin.
A fork in the road
How do you bring a whole community out of a country that will not let it go?
Open pressure
The price: Angering the king, and making life harder for the Jews who stayed.
In secret
The price: Danger to those leaving, as the sinking of the “Egoz” showed.
Quiet diplomacy
The price: A slow road, dependent on promises that might not be kept.
And what happened?
Gazit preferred the diplomatic road at the time. In the end the paths were combined, up to the agreement that made Operation Yakhin possible.
Sources (2)
Israel and the world
Leaving in secret, then by agreement
When Morocco became independent in 1956 some 230,000 Jews lived there. Its leaders opposed their departure: they feared for the economy, and for relations with the Arab states at war with Israel. From 1957 to 1961 the “Misgeret”, a network of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, brought Jews out by illegal routes; in January 1961 the boat “Egoz” sank with forty-four emigrants aboard. From late 1961 to 1964, in Operation Yakhin, Jews left with the authorities’ consent, on collective passports.
Explore on Wikipedia