Amid warming ties between Israel and Morocco, Knesset Speaker presents his Moroccan counterpart with miniature Koran created with Israeli technology.
By Pesach Benson, TPS
In a historic visit to Morocco, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana presented his Moroccan counterpart with the world’s smallest Koran on Thursday, created with Israeli nanotechnology. The visit is the first by a Knesset speaker to the parliament of a Muslim country.
“I had the privilege of being a minister in the government that signed the peace agreements and now – a significant breakthrough at the parliamentary level,” Ohana said. “On this occasion, I will give my Moroccan counterpart the smallest Koran in the world with nanotechnology, something that expresses the connection between the old and the new, between history and progress, while respecting tradition and the past.”
The Koran was presented to Moroccan Parliament President Rachid Talbi El Alami inside a glass case.
Despite the Koran having a word count of 77,880, the entire book is contained on a chip measuring 4.7 millimeters high and 500 microns thick. For comparison, the average human hair is around 70 microns thick. The chip was created by TANAOR, an Israeli jewelry company. Experts from Tel Aviv University’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology tested the nanoplates using a special electron microscope.
Ohana, of the ruling Likud party, is the son of Moroccan immigrants who moved to Israel in the 1950s.
He is also scheduled to meet with MP Nor-Edin Elhrouchi, the chair of the Morocco-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group; and other members of the House of Representatives.
The speaker and his host are due to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation. Ohana is also slated to meet with senior government officials and leaders of the Jewish community.
Israel and Morocco normalized relations in December 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
An estimated one million Israelis are either from Morocco or are of Moroccan descent. Approximately 3,000 Jews currently live in the North African country.
On May 28, Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev signed three agreements with her Moroccan counterpart, Mohamed Abdeljalil in Rabat. One of the agreements allows Israeli tourists in Morocco to use their Israeli driver licenses.
More than 200,000 Israelis visited Morocco in 2022, as coronavirus travel restrictions came to an end.