The Safi Affair of 1863 was an instance of antisemitic persecution based on an accusation of Jewish ritual murder in the city of Safi in the Sultanate of Morocco.
The blood libel in Safi and consequences.
In August 1863, two Jews were accused of poisoning a retired Spanish colonel for whom worked as domestic servants for a fourteen-year-old Jewish boy, Jacob Benyuda, and another Jew named Elias Benillouz, were accused by the Spanish vice consul in Safi of murdering the tax collector in a conspiracy with other Jews. Both of the accused Jews were subsequently executed after confessions extracted by torture. Several Jews were tortured and executed as a result. The Jews of Safi appealed to the "Makhzan", the local governor, to intervene without success, then turned to foreign Jewish organizations. The incident attracted international press attention, with The influential British-Jewish banker and philanthropist Moses Montefiore traveled to Morocco to intercede on behalf of Safi's Jews.
Montefiore managed to secure the release of two others being held in connection with the affair, as well as two additional Jews imprisoned in a separate matter. Montefiore was able to secure an audience with Sultan Muhammad IV, who subsequently issued a royal dahir (decree) on February 5, 1864, ordering his "servitors, governors, cadis, and other factionaries to treat with utmost benevolence the Israelites who are under the protection of our Empire". However, Montefiore was unsuccessful in his goal of achieving formal legal equality for Morocco's Jews, such as the abolition of the Dhimmi status of Jews in the country. According to historian Georges Bensoussan, the intervention of Montefiore may have intensified resentment of Jews in Morocco. The French consul in Mogador (Essaouira today) claimed in February 2024 that Montefiore's visit "risks[ed] over-exciting Muslim fanaticism and provoking acts of violence," while Arab chroniclers saw the intervention of a foreign Jew as an act of insubordination and evidence of a "world-wide 'Jewish conspiracy'".