Bilateral security ties dominate Israel army chief’s talks in Morocco

Israeli army Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, is set to hold talks in Morocco on bilateral security relations and Iran’s influence in the region, according to Israeli media on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Kochavi arrived in Rabat on Monday for a three-day visit.

He is scheduled to meet with Moroccan Defence Minister, Abdellatif Loudiyi, Chief of the Royal Armed Forces, Belkhir El-Farouk and other defence and security officials, the Israeli army said.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation network (KAN) said Kochavi’s talks with Moroccan officials will also take up Iran’s influence in the region.

The visit is the first by Kochavi to the North African nation since Tel Aviv and Rabat signed a US-sponsored agreement to resume their relations in 2020.

Last month, Israeli military officials participated as observers in a major military drill in Morocco, which saw the participation of troops from the US, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Chad, Brazil, the United Kingdom and others.

In November of last year, Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, visited Morocco where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding with his Moroccan counterpart to allow defence and military cooperation between the defence establishments in the two countries.

Morocco was the fourth Arab country to normalise relations with Israel in 2020, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, in a move decried by Palestinians as a “stab in the back.”

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