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Israeli Air Force commander in Morocco to ‘strengthen cooperation’
February 22, 2023
General Tomer Bar is accompanied by the head of the Israeli Air Force's training department, a lieutenant colonel, and other commanders
The commander of Israel's Air Force, General Tomer Bar, on Tuesday landed in Morocco for his first official visit to the North African country.
During the visit, he will meet with the commander of the Moroccan Air Force, General El Abd Bohamid, and will tour the air force bases with the aim of strengthening cooperation between the armies. Bar was accompanied by the head of the Israeli Air Force's training department, a lieutenant colonel, and other commanders.
Bar's trip came just over a month after the first annual defense establishment Steering Committee in collaboration with Morocco took place in Rabat, where the two countries agreed to deepen military ties. Israel and Morocco will be collaborating in intelligence and cybersecurity, and "agreed to further strengthen cooperation and expand it to other areas, including in intelligence, air defense, and electronic warfare," the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces said.
In September 2022, Israel hosted Lieutenant General Belkhir el-Farouk, inspector general of Morocco's Royal Armed Forces, in Tel Aviv for an international military conference. It marked the first time that the head of the military of an Arab country conducted a public visit to the Jewish state.
"Since the resumption of diplomatic relations and the signing of a defense MOU, the parties have deepened & expanded their defense and military ties as well as the defense-industrial field," Israel's Defense Ministry said at the time. "Cooperation is expected to continue expanding in the future in the face of common challenges."
Morocco and Israel formalized ties in 2020, following similar agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - known as the Abraham Accords. A year after that, in November, Israel's then-defense minister Benny Gantz signed a memorandum of understanding in Rabat outlining security relations with Morocco.