Moroccan military officials met defence companies in Israel, says report

Senior Moroccan military officers are participating in meetings with Israeli defence companies as cooperation between the two countries is intensifying, according to a report in Africa Intelligence. 

As recently as August, a delegation from the high command of Morocco’s army was invited to Israel by the research and development directorate of the Israeli defence ministry. 

There, Israeli defence companies presented military equipment to senior Moroccan officials. 

The companies present included state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), counter-drone specialists Sentrycs and D-Fend Solutions, and small arms manufacturer Smart Shooter. 

As well as developing weapons, the research and development arm of the Israeli defence ministry is also charged with overseeing international partnership programmes. 

The meetings were the latest in a series of exchanges that have become increasingly regular and open between the two countries. 

'We have to clearly differentiate between the Moroccan population and the authorities, with King Mohamed VI at its head'-

- Abdelkader Abderrahmane, independent expert

In February, Morocco chose Israel’s Elbit Systems as one of its main weapons suppliers, dethroning the French company KNDS in this position.

Africa Intelligence reported that in March, a Moroccan military delegation visited Israel as part of an initiative to collaborate with Elbit Systems and Steadicopter, another Israeli manufacturer.

That delegation was overseen by SIBAT, the Israeli directorate for international cooperation which secures government-to-government or company-to-government agreements with partners abroad. 

Weeks after that, a delegation of Israeli companies were invited to Morocco to continue conversations with senior figures from the Moroccan army. 

In August, a Moroccan source told local media outlet Yabiladi that the army was also in talks to acquire Israeli Harpy and Harop drones manufactured by IAI for a deal that could exceed $100m.

In addition to the purchase of Israeli military equipment, industrial cooperation projects are underway, with the reported building of a production facility for BlueBird Aero Systems drones in the capital Rabat.

Out in the open

Morocco and Israel normalised relations in 2020 under a US-brokered agreement that also saw Washington recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara - a disputed territory that Rabat has controlled since the 1970s and is considered by the UN as non-self-governing.

Since normalisation, trade between the two countries has grown rapidly, reaching $116.7m in 2023, double the previous year's figure.

In May, Israel took part in the annual African Lion military drill in Morocco. 

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It was the third time Israel had taken part in the drill, but unlike last year - when Israeli involvement was kept out of the public eye amid its genocide on Gaza to avoid domestic Moroccan backlash - this year’s participation was out in the open.

Images of Israeli soldiers in Morocco drew heavy criticism online, including one purporting to show troops from the Golani Brigade waving an Israeli flag and their battalion's insignia during the drill. 

Reacting to the photo at the time, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, called on Rabat to uphold the rule of law and arrest soldiers from the brigade. 

“If confirmed, this would mark a new threshold of depravity - and a violation of the international obligation to investigate and prosecute individuals implicated in atrocity crimes,” she said.

“We have to clearly differentiate between the Moroccan population and the authorities, with King Mohamed VI at its head,” Abdelkader Abderrahmane, an independent expert on North African security and geopolitics, told Middle East Eye.

“The Moroccan population in general has always demonstrated its support for the Palestinian people and their suffering in Gaza,” he said.

An Arab Barometer survey in January found that Moroccan support for normalisation with Israel fell from 31 percent in 2022 to only 13 percent in 2023 and 2024.