The presence of the citron, a citrus fruit grown in the Agadir region and renowned for its quality and flavor, is very noticeable in Israeli markets on the occasion of the "Sukkot" celebrations, which are taking place during this week.
Also known as Citrus medica, this fruit is characterized by its very thick skin, pleasant smell and tangy taste. The citron tree is up to five meters tall, with soft branches and leaves, white flowers and a fruit that looks like a lemon whose color is yellow tending to orange.
These citrus fruits are used with palm leaves during the Israeli celebrations of Sukkot, also called the "tent festival", in memory of the Exodus of the Jewish people from Pharaonic Egypt and the ordeal of spending several days in the desert.
The newspaper "Haaretz" reports that Hervé Lévy, a Jewish businessman from Agadir, exported large quantities of this fruit to the Israeli market on the occasion of this holiday, directly from Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc flights.
He added that these fruits are produced in the High Atlas Mountains for over two thousand years and are very popular with Jews who use them on the occasion of the holiday of Sukkot, preferring them largely to those imported from Caribbean countries.
According to "Israel24", the citron is usually produced locally, but the Sabbatical year has just ended with the Hebrew New Year/Rosh Hashanah, when it is religiously forbidden to cultivate the land during the seventh year according to the Torah.
Quoting Einat Levi, former head of economic affairs at the Israeli mission in Morocco, the media notes that the dynamic trade in this citrus fruit "symbolizes the increasingly warm relations between Morocco and Israel".
"When Jews cannot work their land, their Muslim brothers can provide what they need during this year, so that they can maintain their rituals and traditions," she explained.