The Chief of Staff of the Tsahal, the Israeli army, was welcomed on Tuesday by the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of the administration of national defense, Abdellatif Loudiyi, following high royal instructions. The highest-ranking Israeli army officer underlined Morocco’s role as a maker of peace and stability on the African continent and in the Middle East.
Aviv Kohavi’s visit, the first of its kind to Morocco, was an opportunity to recall the excellent relations and bilateral cooperation at the military level. The representative of the Israeli Defense and his Moroccan counterparts discussed and examined the opportunities to further develop this cooperation.
Among the elements discussed, training, technology transfer as well as the sharing of experiences and expertise between the Royal Armed Forces and the Israeli Armed Forces.
Abdeltif Loudiyi, who welcomed Kohavi, recalled on this occasion “the constant commitment”, under the leadership of the King, in terms of “management of security challenges, the migration crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the deployment of numerous initiatives in favor of the rapprochement of peoples to serve the objectives of peace and stability in the Middle East”, indicates a press release from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR).
And the Moroccan official added that the interest is to jointly set up industrial defense projects in Morocco, underlines the press release, which follows the meeting of the two men, and a large Israeli delegation which accompanied the Head of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces during this working visit.
Kohavi took this opportunity to salute the important role played by Morocco under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, as an actor of stability and peace in favor of the African continent and in the Middle East, indicated the same source.
And to explain that he and his Moroccan counterpart reiterated their common ambition and desire to consolidate these relations to serve the objectives of peace and stability in our region.
Later in the day, the Israeli official was received at the General Staff of the FAR in Rabat by Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, Inspector General of the FAR and Commander of the Southern Zone.
In this context, the discussions revolved around good Moroccan-Israeli relations at the military level, materialized by the exchange of experiences and expertise and participation in joint training exercises such as the African Lion multilateral military exercise. 2022, organized by Morocco and the USA.
The foundations of this privileged relationship between Morocco and Israel were laid during the historic signing, on December 22, 2020, before King Mohammed VI, of the Morocco-USA-Israel tripartite agreement.
On November 24, 2021, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of defense cooperation by the Israeli Minister of Defense and the Deputy Minister in charge of DNA, Abdellatif Loudiyi, during the visit of Benny Gantz , a protocol that sealed the military alliance between Morocco and Israel
A first agreement signed related to the creation of a bilateral defense industry, particularly in Morocco, and a second military agreement which established the establishment of mixed military commissions, interoperability exercises between the Royal Armed Forces (FAR ) and the Tsahal, participation in international exercises.
The two parties did not wait long to make these agreements work since as early as July 2022, when the African Lion exercises were held, Israel confirmed and participated in the joint maneuvers of the United States and several countries. Africans, which were held in Morocco.
The Israeli Defense Ministry sent two IDF officers and a senior Defense Ministry official who joined a total of 7,500 soldiers for these military exercises.
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