Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Morocco for historic visit

Published on : 11/24/2021 – 07:42 AM

A year after the normalization of relations between the Hebrew state and Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz arrived in Rabat on Tuesday 23 November for an unprecedented visit.

Before leaving Tel Aviv, Benny Gantz spoke of “an important trip to Morocco which has a historic touch as it is the first formal visit by an (Israeli) Minister of Defense to this country”. “We are going to sign cooperation agreements and continue to strengthen our relations. It is very important that this trip be a success,” added Benny Gantz, who is due to meet with Moroccan ministers of national defense and foreign affairs on Wednesday.

The visit aims to “establish the cornerstone of future security relations between Israel and Morocco,” a source familiar with the visit told AFP, specifying that a framework agreement on this subject would be signed. “Until now, there was some cooperation, but here we are really going to formalize it. It is a public declaration of our partnership,” added the official.

The two countries had established diplomatic relations in the early 1990s before Morocco ended it at the start of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s.

Tensions between Morocco and Algeria

Israel and Morocco reestablished relations in December 2020 as part of the “Abrahamic Accords”, a process of normalization of relations between the Hebrew state and Arab countries supported by the administration of former US President Donald Trump .

Washington had recognized at the same time the “full sovereignty” of Morocco over Western Sahara, a territory disputed with the Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front supported by Algeria.

Benny Gantz’s visit comes as Algiers severed its relations with Rabat in August because of “hostile actions” by the kingdom and the Polisario Front decided on Friday to “intensify” its armed struggle against Morocco.

By meeting Monday in Washington with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, gave strong support to the “serious and realistic” autonomy plan advocated by Morocco to settle the conflict in Western Sahara. In addition, the two parties stressed the importance of the “continuous deepening” of Moroccan-Israeli relations.

For Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, specialist in Israeli-Moroccan relations at Tel Aviv University, the first visit of an Israeli Minister of Defense to Morocco in full tension between the two heavyweights of the Maghreb does not seem to be a pure coincidence. .

“It is possible that in a context of Algeria / Morocco tension, Moroccans (….) wish to show the world – their own people, their Algerian rivals and the West – that they are deepening their relations with Israel , with all that that implies “, underlines Bruce Maddy-Weitzman.

The Israeli company Ratio Petroleum announced on September 29 a partnership with Rabat for the exploration of hydrocarbons off Dakhla, in Western Sahara. And the Hebrew state is also one of the world’s leading exporters of armed drones and security software like NSO’s Pegasus.

However, sales of armed drones and certain advanced technologies, such as spyware Pegasus, must be approved by the Department of Defense headed by Benny Gantz.

According to information published this summer by a media consortium, a mobile number of French President Emmanuel Macron was on the list of those targeted by a Moroccan state security service, accused of having used spyware Pegasus. Morocco categorically denies having purchased this software and has announced that it has filed “defamation” complaints against the media.

A call for demonstrations

According to various NGOs, Pegasus was also found this fall in the cell phones of Palestinian activists, whose cause continues to mobilize in Morocco. A pro-Palestinian coalition of left-wing parties and NGOs as well as the Islamists of the Justice and Beneficence movement called for a demonstration on Wednesday in Rabat to condemn normalization with Israel and denounce the arrival in Morocco of “war criminal Gantz”, head of staff during the deadly 2014 summer war in Gaza.

And the hashtag “the criminal Gantz is not welcome” appeared on the Moroccan web. For Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, Morocco has not abandoned the Palestinian cause, “but has many other interests, many other benefits to derive from a recalibration” of its relations.

With AFP