Morocco army chief given official reception in Israel

Morocco’s army chief Lieutenant General Belkhir El-Farouk started an official visit to Israel today to participate in a military conference in Tel Aviv.

An official reception ceremony was held upon El-Farouk’s arrival and he was welcomed by Israeli army chief Aviv Kochavi.

For the first time in history, we welcomed the Inspector General of the @MoroccanArmed Forces, LTG Belkhir El Farouk, to Israel today.

The IDF Chief of the General Staff led an honor guard as LTG El Farouk arrived for the International Operational Innovation Conference.

🇮🇱🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/v5QCOR2Qpi

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 13, 2022

El-Farouk will take part in the Israeli army’s International Operational Innovation Conference along with military leaders from other countries including Finland, India, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Holland, Canada, Germany, United States, Greece, Cyprus, NATO and others.

READ: Israel has committed almost 4,000 crimes in occupied Jerusalem in 2022

Yesterday, the Moroccan army confirmed El-Farouk’s participation in the conference, which began yesterday and is due to end on Thursday.

“It will lay the foundations for solid cooperation in the field of multi-dimensional defence and military renewal,” the army said in a statement.

Last week, the Israeli army said dozens of military leaders would take part in the conference, including from Arab countries.

In 2020, Israel and Morocco announced the resumption of bilateral diplomatic relations, after their suspension in 2000. This was in return for the US recognising Rabat’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.