Israel researcher: Israeli-Moroccan relations are growing

Relations between Morocco and Israel are growing, according to a research paper published by the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, Mitvim, on Sunday.

“The current cooperation between Israel and Morocco is relatively broad, and their reciprocal interests are strong and durable,” said Einat Levi who prepared the study.

She pointed out that “The cooperation is based on the Jewish-Moroccan relationship, which has lasted for more than two thousand years.”

“Although there are no shared diplomatic relations, Morocco has Jews inside its territory and hosts many Israelis every year,” she said.

She explained: “Today about one million Moroccan Jews are living in Israel, and tens of thousands of Israelis visit Morocco each year for tourism, trade or family visits, as is the case in Israel’s relations with other Arab and Islamic countries.”

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“Security cooperation, which has developed in the early 1960s, is continuing to this day. These two matters create a real sense of partnership and consolidate deep mutual trust between the two sides,” she added.

Levi noted that Israel established representation for Mossad in Morocco in 1963.

Levi went on, “the real breakthrough in the declared diplomatic relations”. She explained: “It is still far from achieving its potential, being limited by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and influenced by the activities of the boycott movements in Morocco.”

She claimed that Israeli-Moroccan relations began in the late 1950s, in light of the need to organise the Jewish immigration after the sinking of the Egoz, a ship full of migrants, in January 1961.

Levi confirmed that “There are many mutual and surprising bilateral relations between Morocco and Israel. In the field of tourism, there are about 45 thousand Israeli visitors to Morocco every year, and 35 thousand yearly Moroccan visitors to Israel.”

The study says that “there is also cooperation in the field of agriculture, albeit limited. Morocco provides Israel with agricultural products such as sardines and oils, while Israel exports to Morocco Cognitive Science and agriculture technology, such as irrigation systems known as Drip Irrigation.”

The study continued: “There is an Israeli Facebook page directed at Moroccan farmers. Also, Israeli farmers in Morocco set up farmhouses for producing dates, oils, almonds, and citrus.”

As for cooperation in the cultural and artistic fields, the study explained that “the two sides are organising cinema, music, and cultural festivals and conducting research studies.”

The study pointed out that in June 2018, Israel hosted three Moroccan delegations and representatives of civil society who have been conducting dialogues with their Israeli counterparts. In recent years, Israeli delegations have visited Morocco in several events, such as the International Climate Summit in Marrakech in November 2016, in Agadir, and the meeting of parliamentarians of the Mediterranean countries in Rabat in October 2017.”

The two countries’ bilateral relations have been strengthened against the backdrop of nationalist ideology promoted by Gamal Abdel Nasser and in October 1963. Adding to that, Morocco and Israel signed a cross-border arms deal involving Iran and French-made aircraft and ships to help Rabat in its war against Algeria.

Israel and Morocco grew more confidence in 1976 when King Hassan II hosted, for the first time, an Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who came to discuss Morocco’s possible help to strengthen dialogue between Israel and Egypt.

A year later, Morocco hosted a secret meeting between the Israeli and Egyptian foreign ministers, paving the way for Sadat’s famous visit to Israel.

In the early 1990s, the Oslo Accords promoted relations between the two countries. In September 1993, Rabin and Peres visited Morocco on their way back from the signing ceremony of the Declaration of Principles with the PLO in Washington to promote formal Israeli-Moroccan relations.

Cooperation between Morocco and Israel has increased. The two countries have started witnessing a period of reciprocal economic peace by the appointment of Serge Berdugo, leader of the Jewish community in Morocco, as Minister of Tourism as well as the visit of a delegation of directors of nine large Moroccan companies to Israel.