Israel and Morocco sign military co-operation agreement

The two countries seek to boost bilateral ties at different levels after restoring ties in 2020

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz, right, signs a defence agreement with Abdellatif Loudiyi, Morocco's minister delegate in charge of national defence administration during a meeting in November 20Show more

Israel and Morocco have signed an agreement on military co-operation, which includes convening a joint military commission to sign a joint action plan, the Israeli army's Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Twitter on Friday.

Senior Israeli military officials, including the army’s man responsible for Iran matters, met Moroccan military head Belkhir El Farouk this week in Rabat, the Israeli military said.

“The officials discussed the historical and cultural connection between the countries and mutual interests in the Middle East, and expressed their desire to promote extensive military co-operation,” the Israeli military said.

The agreement includes co-operation on exercises and intelligence, according to Israeli media. There was no official comment from Morocco.

The move comes after Israel and Morocco agreed to re-establish ties in December 2020, joining the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan.

The Abraham Accords were described by officials in these countries as the “most significant strategic developments” in the Middle East for many years, and observers said they helped to reshape the geopolitics of the region.

Since then, Morocco and Israel have taken several steps to implement the normalisation process with economic, cultural and military agreements.

In November, Israeli officials including Defence Minister Benny Gantz laid the groundwork for military co-operation with the signing of an agreement in Rabat, which set the stage for today's announcement and opened the door to intelligence co-operation, arms deals and joint military training.

Last month they signed the first economic and trade agreements since formalising ties with a goal of quadrupling their annual trade to more than $500 million.

In another sign of growing collaboration between the two countries, Moroccan industry officials and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries on Wednesday in Rabat signed an agreement on aerospace and the aviation industry. Israel is one of the world's top exporters of armed drones.