Israel becomes main defence partner for Morocco
Israel beats France in acting as Morocco’s main defence partner, following news that Morocco has signed an arms contract with Israeli Elbit Systems, reports PressTV on February 10th.
The deal includes the purchase of self propelled artillery systems, marked by Elbit as ‘battle tested’; suggesting the weapons have been used in attacks on the Palestinian people.
La Tribune reported on the 8th of February that Morocco’s purchase of 36 Atmos 2000 (Autonomous Truck Mounted howitzer System) comes amid disputes with the French company KNDS, which was Morocco’s previous main arms supplier.
Elbit Sytems is the primary provider of the Israeli military’s land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles. The company has faced protests and demands for divestment at its Western factory branches due to its support of the Israeli military,
Tensions rose between the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and KNDS following technical failures in the French company’s Caesar artillery systems, which rendered several of them non-operational for Morocco, despite talks in December 2024 on increased integration between the French and Moroccan militaries.
Following this new agreement, Israel has become Morocco’s third-largest weapons supplier, accounting for 11 percent of its total arms imports.
Last March, Elbit said its revenue boosted by higher ammunition sales to Israel for its genocidal war on Gaza.
This news comes amidst a climate of normalisation of Israeli relations with Middle Eastern and North African states. Morocco signed a US-brokered normalisation agreement with Israel in 2020, drawing condemnations from Moroccans and Palestinians who slammed the pact as a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause.
As part of the deal, the US agreed to recognize Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region, where the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state there. Israel has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the region since 2023.
This recent deal is not the first instance of Morocco and Israel’s defence partnership. In 2024, Morocco purchased $1 billion worth of espionage satellites from Elbit affiliate, Israel Aerospace Industries.
This new partnership with Elbit Systems strengthens the Arab country’s military as it fights the Polisario Front, the movement seeking to liberate Western Sahara. Morocco’s claims of ownership over Western Sahara have often drawn comparison to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
PressTV
