The Israeli army’s Chief of Staff, General Aviv Kochavi, paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Morocco on July 19. It is the first-ever public visit of this kind to an Arab country. Kochavi was warmly welcomed by the leaders of the Moroccan army and top security officials, reflecting the close military and security relations between the two sides that peaked with the signing of a security pact during the November 2021 visit to Morocco by the Israeli Security Minister Benny Gantz.

It is becoming more evident that the normalization of relations between Morocco and “Israel”, which officially took place in 2020 during President Trump’s tenure, was not merely a political step, but rather a military alliance between the Israeli entity and the north-African Arab country. The Israeli media reported that on Kochavi’s agenda in Morocco was a wide range of subjects to be discussed with his hosts:

- Exchange of military attachés;

- Joint bilateral air-force maneuvers, to be followed by regional maneuvers with certain African countries;

- Stationing Israeli troops near the Morocco-Algeria borders;

- Training Moroccan officers in “Israel”;

- Boosting "Israel’s" military exports to Morocco;

- Establishing local production lines of Israeli weapons in Morocco.

The Algerian Dimension

Reference to Algeria by the Israeli press was no coincidence. Actually, Algeria is a common denominator between the two sides. Both sides are concerned with Algeria’s growing importance and influence in Africa and the Middle East. Morocco has its long, well-known dispute with Algeria over the Western Sahara issue, while “Israel” is very annoyed by the extensive Algerian efforts over the past two years in African spheres to prevent “Israel” from joining the African Union organization with an “observer” status.

Moreover, Algeria is a historic supporter of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian revolution. In fact, the Israeli hostility toward Algeria dates back to the 1950s when its operatives in French-occupied Algeria clashed with the Algerian freedom fighters, the FLN, during the Algerian struggle for independence. Post-independence Algeria strongly supported Egypt and Syria in the wars with “Israel”, opened Algeria’s doors wide open for the PLO fighters for training, and refused to join the “peace circus” in the middle east.

For all these reasons, it’s no wonder that “Israel” is ready to go all the way in supporting Morocco’s hostilities and plots against Algeria.

Morocco’s Goals

The Moroccan leadership believes there is a lot to gain from its alliance with “Israel”. First is the military part; receiving Israeli weapons and technology would strengthen its army against the “Algeria threat”. Morocco was indeed a client of "Israel’s" military industry for a long time, long before the 2020 announcement. Second is the intelligence; the Israeli spying agency, Mossad, had been providing vital information about the Polisario Front in Western Sahara about Algeria and Moroccan opposition figures.

In the 1960s, during the reign of late King Hasan II, the Mossad helped in the kidnapping and liquidation of the staunch Moroccan opponent, Mahdi Bin Baraka, who was living in Paris, just to mention an example. Politically speaking, Morocco looks at its deep relations with “Israel” as leverage in its standing in the US, considering the strong Israeli lobby in Congress and the administration. Donald Trump did reward Morocco for its public normalization with “Israel” by acknowledging Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2020 – a decision maintained by Biden’s administration. Finally, Morocco knows that forging strong relations with “Israel” would appease the main sponsor of the so-called “Abraham Accords”, the UAE, and thus expects financial aid in return. 

Israeli Goals 

“Israel”, apparently, is looking for more free-hand for its intelligence agency, Mossad, in the Moroccan territories. Turning Morocco into a sort of “stronghold” for its spying agencies is a vital interest for “Israel”. Actually, the Mossad activities in Morocco go long back in history to the 1950s when it created an underground organization called “Mesgeret” to cover the whole north African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. That organization, Mesgeret, was responsible for the immigration operations of the Jews from these countries to “Israel”.

Currently, Morocco is the main base for Israeli activities in the northern and western African regions, including the sub-Sahara areas of Chad, Mali, Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania. "Israel’s" attempts to penetrate the African continent are well known, and its presence in Morocco would definitely help to that end. “Israel” is counting on Morocco’s support from within the ranks of the African Union to its African ambitions. Finally, “Israel” is looking for more sales and security business with Morocco. Israeli media reports are talking about one-billion dollars in exports to Morocco per year, and “Israel” is definitely looking for much more.