On April 22, Dimona Mayor Benny Biton orchestrated one of this year's most publicized Mimouna celebrations, marking the end of Passover in Moroccan hospitality tradition. That publicity was due to the parade of senior politicians that Biton managed to congregate in the southern city’s Ben Gurion forest.
Biton circulated like a bridegroom on his wedding day between Ministers Gideon Sa’ar, Gilad Erdan, Yisrael Katz, Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin and Knesset members Reuven Rivlin and Tzachi Hanegbi. For their part, the VIPs showered praises and affectionate gestures on the mayor as they uttered empty phrases about the importance of the Mimouna holiday for bringing communities together. By the way, this entire group of respectable politicians swung by several different Mimouna feasts between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, mainly in the periphery cities that have large populations of Moroccan-born residents.