The [1] or Cadima ('forward') was the clandestine Zionist apparatus that arranged and oversaw the mass migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel from 1949 to 1956, during the final years of French colonial rule in Morocco.[2] [3] [4] Cadima was administered by Jewish Agency and Mossad Le'Aliyah agents sent from Israel, with assistance from local Moroccan Zionists. It was based out of an office in Casablanca and operated cells in large cities as well as a transit camp along the road to al-Jadida, from which Jewish migrants would depart for Israel via Marseille.
Cadima was established through an agreement between Resident-General Alphonse Juin of the French colonial administration in Morocco and the Jewish Agency represented by Jacques Gershoni signed on March 7, 1949.[5] By this agreement, the French colonial administration would no longer interfere in the emigration of Jews from Morocco as it had been doing previously.
Cadima established a main office in the European section of Casablanca and opened cells in large cities throughout Morocco, operating under the guise of providing social services and a library. From these branches, they recruited Jews from rural areas and isolated villages and oversaw their departure. Initially, Mossad Le'Aliyah agents exploited poverty to motivate Jews to leave, though their economic situation would not significantly improve in Israel; most of the 30,000 Jews migrated between 1949 and 1951 were from poorer communities.
From mid-1951[6] to 1953,[2] Cadima restricted the migration of Moroccan Jews through a criteria known as seleqṣeya ([7]) that included a strict medical examination and privileged healthy young people and families with a breadwinner.[6] Those who passed the medical inspection were sent to a transit camp outside Casablanca on the road to al-Jadida, from which they would depart for Israel by way of Marseille.
| 1949 | 2,709 | |
| 1950 | 3,442 | |
| 1951 | 6,677 | |
| 1952 | 4,632 | |
| 1953 | 2,561 | |
| 1954 | 9,977 | |
| 1955 | 26,555 | |
| first 2 months of 1956 | 5,903 |
Cadima