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Israel boosting military ties with Morocco in fields of cybersecurity, intelligence
January 17, 2023
A two-day meeting in Rabat examined military cooperation including in the fields of 'logistics, training and the acquisition and modernization of equipment'
Israel's Defense Ministry on Tuesday announced that the first annual defense establishment Steering Committee in collaboration with Morocco took place in Rabat where the two countries agreed to deepen military ties.
"Since the resumption of diplomatic relations & the signing of a defense MOU, the parties have deepened & expanded their defense &military ties as well as the defense-industrial field," Israel's Defense Ministry said in a statement. "Cooperation is expected to continue expanding in the future in the face of common challenges."
The two will be collaborating in intelligence and cybersecurity. They "agreed to further strengthen cooperation and expand it to other areas, including in intelligence, air defense, and electronic warfare," according to the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.
The Moroccan army stated that the two-day meeting in Rabat examined military cooperation including in the fields of "logistics, training, and the acquisition and modernization of equipment." Morocco’s General Doukur Darmy, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces, and Dror Shalom, Director of the Office of Political-Military Affairs at the Israeli Defense Ministry, chaired the meeting.
“The Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces, Commander of the Southern Region, described the Moroccan-Israeli military cooperation as ‘carrying common interests and based on trust and mutual support,’” the Moroccan army continued.
This came after the formalization of ties in 2020, following similar agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - known as the Abraham Accords. Then, in November 2021, Israel's then-defense minister Benny Gantz signed a memorandum of understanding in Rabat outlining security relations with Morocco.