Morocco (illustrative)
Morocco (illustrative)iStock

The normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco revealed the magical Muslim country to many Israelis, who for the first time boarded a direct flight and excitedly visited Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fes, and the Atlas Mountains.

Many tourist offices offer a variety of trails, views, atmospheres, authenticity, shopping, culinary experiences, and the gravesites of righteous miracle workers - Morocco has everything.

But as strange as it may sound, there is someone who is using Israeli tourism in Morocco to charge a unique, new tax, which is expected to increase the price of the trips intended for Israelis and Jews, Channel 13 reported Sunday.

According to Channel 13, Serge Berdugo, President of the Moroccan Jewish community, is charging hotels in the country a four-euro tax for each Jewish tourist interested in eating kosher food.

In addition, Berdugo is forcing hotels to pay for a certificate of kosher supervision from the Jewish court of Casablanca.

Berdugo's request has sparked great anger, and the managers of hotels were dumbstruck.

"This is horrific and awful. For ten years, we've worked with Jews, and suddenly we need to pay Serge Berdugo money. Four euro per person for kosher food, which we have no information about. If during the Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles - ed.) holiday people spend ten days in a hotel - they will need to pay forty extra euro per person, because of Berdugo's new demand," Channel 13 quoted the manager of a Morocco hotel as saying.

Berdugo has not issued a response or explanation. Officially, Israel has requested not to become involved in what happens within Morocco.

"We are not aware of this issue. This is an internal Moroccan issue. We have no intention to become involved in this," the Foreign Ministry said.