Israeli-Moroccan ties deep- rooted

Shared historical experiences invariably play an important role in consolidating ties between nations. Growing relations between Israel and Morocco since the two nations decided, in December 2020, to join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties between them is a case in point.

Observers say that last month, Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog hosted a ceremonial event to welcome Commanding officer of the Moroccan Armed Forces Lieutenant General Belkhir El-Farouk, who, along with several Chiefs of Staff and senior commanding officers from around the world, took part in an international conference convened by the Israeli Defence Force.

Earlier, in July, Israeli Lieutenant-General Aviv Kochavi was in Morocco. In November last year , Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Morocco . Other Israeli ministers who have visited Morocco in the wake of the Abraham Accords include then Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (August 2021), Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Justice Minister Gidon Saar.

Today Israel and Morocco have military attaches at their respective embassies . They hold bilateral air exercises. The two countries have acquisition agreements worth several hundred million dollars, including cooperation on drone development and counter-measures.

The roots of the currently fast-developing Israeli-Moroccan partnership are very deep. Way back in the 1960s, Morocco offered Israel access to intelligence . The two nations were then faced with the common threat of the rise of revolutionary Arab nationalism under former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

In the 1970s, when the confrontation between Morocco and Algeria over control of the formerly Spanish colony of Western Sahara grew sharper, Israel sold Morocco significant amounts of French-made military surpluses, including tanks. Then Moroccan King Hassan II appreciated Israel's help very much . In turn, he offered his help in the critical preparatory contacts that led to the breakthrough in relations between Israel and Egypt.

Following the Oslo Accords (1993) and the Israel- Jordan peace treaty (1994), there has been a steady flow of visits by Israelis to Morocco. The Moroccan constitution of 2011 references the Jewish component of the country's cultural identity. Its preamble talks of the country's unity as being " forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamic, Amazigh [Berber] and Saharan-Hassanic components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences." Presently, there are about 472800 Moroccan- origin Jews living in Israel.

The observers add both Israeli Prime Minister Lapid and current Moroccan King Mohammed VI have been concerned also about radical Shiite Islamist Iran's imperialistic ambitions. As in the past, Israel is ever vigilant to foil the much- declared Iranian agenda to annihilate the Jewish State. Rabat cut off its diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2018.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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