Morocco, Israel signs military cooperation agreement

Africa, Middle East, News November 25, 2021 , by IRIA No Comments

Moroccan Defense Minister Abdellatif Loudiyi and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening military cooperation on November 24, marking the first such agreement between an Arab country and Israel.

Under the memorandum of understanding, both sides agreed to establish a solid security cooperation framework, increase intelligence and industrial collaboration, and increase military training between the two countries.

The agreement also formalized the defense relationship between Israel and Morocco, which will facilitate intelligence sharing between the two countries and enable Israeli military exports to the North African nation.

After the signing of the memorandum, Israeli Defense Minister Gantz said “We have just now signed an agreement for military cooperation — with all that that implies — with the nation of Morocco. This is a highly significant event that will allow us to enter into joint projects and allow Israeli [defense] exports to here. I think the ties between Morocco and Israel need to continue to get closer, to continue to develop and expand, and I am glad that we have a part to play in that.”

“The agreement is a significant step in the deepening relations of Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco, which already benefit from increased economic cooperation, bilateral tourism, and warm people-to-people relations,” Gantz added.

Gantz also restated the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in view of the growing threats in the Middle East and North Africa and expressed hope that more countries will sign normalization agreements with Israel.

During the meeting between the two defense ministers, Gantz also reiterated the importance of enhanced bilateral cooperation in light of developing threats in the Middle East and North Africa and expressed hope that there would be more countries that would sign normalization agreements with Israel.

An Israeli Defense Ministry official stated that although Israel maintains close security relations with Jordan and Egypt, and the two countries also have peace agreements, they have not signed a memorandum of understanding with them, which makes the agreement with Morocco “unprecedented”.

This was also the first-ever Israel Defense Forces soldiers’ visit to Morocco. During the visit, the Israeli defense minister also held meetings with the Moroccan military chief of staff, and Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

Earlier on November 21, the Moroccan military official posted on his Facebook page that Morocco has purchased the Israeli Skylock Dome, a counter-drone system.

“Some systems were delivered already, but there is no information about the value of the deal or the number of systems that have been acquired,” Moroccan military expert Abdel Hamid Harfi told Defense News.

The Skylock Dome is an anti-drone technology, developed by a subsidiary of Avnon, Skylock Systems. The system is capable of detecting enemy drones, neutralizing them by jamming their signals and destroying them by using a laser gun.