Morocco Signs Military Pact With Israel – OpEd
The security pact between Morocco signed last week in Rabat is creating much social media noise not from individuals but from the newspapers and websites that continue to cover it. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz and with his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Loudiyi is the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab country.
Palestinian groups denounced the two-day visit of Gantz to Rabat and the signing. Ismail Radwan, a prominent leader in Hamas, slammed the visit and called on Moroccans and their parties “to reject the visit and condemn it,” according to reports in Anadolu news.
Radwan called Gantz a war criminal who should be tried at the “International Criminal Court for his war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people,” the Turkish news agency added.
The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) slammed the military agreement between Morocco and Israel. Gantz’s visit “represents a direct danger to the brotherly Moroccan people at first, then to the region entirely, especially brotherly Algeria which is targeted in its security and its territorial integrity,” it said.
The Times of Israel carried a full report of the visit. The agreement formalizes the defense ties between the two countries, allowing for smoother cooperation between their defense establishments and making it easier for Israel to sell arms to the North African kingdom, the daily Israeli website newspaper added.
With the signing of the MOU, the two countries’ defense ministries and military can more easily speak with one another and share intelligence, whereas in the past, such communication was only possible through their respective intelligence services, the Time of Israeli added.
“We have just now signed an agreement for military cooperation — with all that that implies — with the nation of Morocco. This is a highly significant event that will allow us to enter into joint projects and allow Israeli [defense] exports to here. I think the ties between Morocco and Israel need to continue to get closer, to continue to develop and expand, and I am glad that we have a part to play in that,” Gantz said after the signing.
Meanwhile, media reports suggests that cooperation and Israeli sales of weapons to Morocco has already started that is said to reach hundreds of millions of dollars and will include UAVs, Radars and Air Defenses technologies. Besides, the MoU specifies joint drills.
