How Morocco Became Israel’s Most Important Partner in Africa

Already when the State of Israel was founded, the Moroccan monarchy was a helping hand – but the historical alliance between Morocco’s rulers and Jews can be traced all the way back to the 8th century and the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.Israel’s interest in Morocco began already in the 1950s, before Moroccan independence.

At that time it mainly concerned organizing the emigration of the country’s relatively large Jewish population. Mossad agents worked on the ground under the cover of the international organization the Jewish Agency.It was in the 1960s, when King Hassan II ascended the throne, that relations between the two young states began to take concrete form.

Mossad was then allowed to establish a permanent intelligence presence in Morocco, which quickly led to intensive but unofficial defense and security cooperation.

In 1965 Casablanca hosted an Arab summit where the Israel question was discussed. Hassan II chose to betray his Arab partners by allowing Mossad to wiretap the meeting, which gave the Israelis invaluable insight into the anti-Zionist alliance’s plans and capabilities. The intelligence became an important foundation for Israel’s war preparations and contributed to the spectacular victory in the Six-Day War of 1967.

“These recordings, which truly constituted an extraordinary intelligence success, established the feeling within the IDF’s highest leadership that we would win the war against Egypt,” said General Shlomo Gazit, who later became head of Israel’s military intelligence service Aman, in a 2016 interview.

Later the same year Mossad repaid the favor by helping the Moroccan security service capture the opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka, an anti-colonialist and pan-Arabist. The kidnapping was carried out in Paris and ended with Ben Barka being tortured to death. Barka’s body was never found, which according to reports was ensured by Mossad.

During the 1970s Morocco acted as an intermediary in informal talks between Israel and Egypt. The talks often took place on Moroccan territory and resulted in the Camp David Accords of 1978, which meant that Egypt ceased its hostility toward Israel.

In the following decades Israel succeeded in persuading the USA also to contribute to helping Morocco militarily. When Hassan II’s son Mohammed VI took office, one of his first goals was to secure US support for Morocco’s claims on Western Sahara – which occurred through the so-called Abraham Accords in December 2020.

President Donald Trump then proclaimed that the USA, as part of the agreement, recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory at the same time as Israel and Morocco established formal diplomatic relations.

This despite strong resistance among the population, which is highly critical of Israel and does not want any cooperation with the country at all. A representative opinion survey from Arab Barometer published in 2024 shows that only 13 percent supported normalization with Israel.

According to another major survey, the Arab Opinion Index 2024/25, 89 percent believe that Morocco should not recognize Israel, against only 6 percent who do.

Israeli engineers from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are helping Morocco install the advanced air defense system Barak MX. The deal was secured in 2022 and is just one in a series of examples of how Morocco’s modern defense has been built up by Israelis. Screenshot: Projets du Maroc on YouTube

The royal house, however, considers the Moroccans’ opinion irrelevant, and bilateral cooperation has deepened at an ever-increasing pace. In 2021 Israel’s then Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Morocco to sign the Israelis’ first-ever defense agreement with an Arab country. This became not only the start of a formalization of the already established defense and intelligence cooperation but also a series of major deals in which Israel sells advanced weapons and technology to Morocco.

Morocco’s extensive military cooperation with Israel, 2021–2022:

• Morocco purchases several types of Israeli drones, including BlueBird systems, the Harop kamikaze drone from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Hermes drones from Elbit Systems. It also acquires the Israeli anti-drone system Skylock Dome. At the same time there are reports of plans to build two BlueBird factories in northeastern and southern Morocco respectively.
• FEBRUARY 2022: Israeli IAI concludes a major agreement with Morocco on the purchase of the air- and missile-defense system Barak MX. The deal is worth 500 million dollars and is described as a direct consequence of Gantz’s visit the previous year.
• JULY 2022: The deals are followed up by IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, visiting Morocco with great pomp. On site he met, among others, the commanders of Morocco’s air force and military intelligence. Kochavi also participated in a closed “strategic panel discussion” with high-ranking Moroccan military officers, where they discussed deepening “operational intelligence cooperation.”
• JULY 2023: Shai Cohen, head of Israel’s diplomatic mission in Rabat, announces that Elbit Systems plans to build two facilities in Morocco. On 17 July Israel formally recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and at the same time appoints Colonel Sharon Itach – son of an emigrated Moroccan Jew – as the country’s first military attaché in Rabat. The day after, Elbit Systems announces a contract worth 150 million dollars to an international customer. It later turns out to be Morocco, which has purchased the advanced rocket artillery system PULS.
• JULY 2024: IAI signs yet another giant contract with the Moroccan state, this time worth one billion dollars. The contract concerns the purchase of Israeli spy satellites named Ofek 13.
• APRIL 2025: The sites Declassified UK and the Irish The Ditch reveal that Moroccan ports are being used as hubs for US weapons deliveries to Israel, including F-35 aircraft. The revelation leads to massive protests in Morocco, as well as strikes and resignations among port workers.
• NOVEMBER 2025: The first Israeli drone factory under BlueBird’s auspices is inaugurated in Benslimane, just outside Casablanca. The factory is staffed by Moroccan technicians trained in Israel and reached full production during the spring of 2026.
• JANUARY 2026: Israel and Morocco follow up the defense agreement by signing a joint military work plan for 2026. The agreement plans exercises and training, as well as operational coordination during the year, including in the intelligence field. At the beginning of the year Barak MX – purchased in 2022 – reaches full operational status in Morocco.
• JUNE 2026: Moroccan officers arrive in Israel to participate in the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza. Morocco becomes the first Arab country to publicly contribute personnel, reportedly 200 soldiers, who cooperate with the IDF outside a refugee camp in Rafah.