Israeli Army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi was visiting Morocco from July 17-20. On this occasion, he would have sought the agreement of the Moroccan authorities for the use of Moroccan air bases by Israeli Air Force planes bound for the United States.
Israel wants to use Moroccan airbases “for Israeli Air Force planes en route to the United States [there] to land to refuel.” This is the complaint expressed by Aviv Kohavi against the Moroccan authorities during his visit to Rabat, Le Desk understands. “Kohavi’s talks with senior Moroccan army officials focused on strengthening military cooperation, in terms of training and intelligence,” Israeli officials said.
The purpose of this visit by the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army to Morocco was to translate into action the memorandum of understanding for military and security cooperation signed between the two countries last November, following the historic visit to Rabat of Benny Gantz, the Israeli Minister of Defense. A few months earlier, in July 2021, Moroccan commandos were in Israel to take part in military exercises.
Last month, Israeli officers also took part in the African Lion military exercises, co-organized by Morocco and the United States. Morocco and Israel normalized their relations in December 2020 under the aegis of the United States, which recognized the kingdom’s sovereignty over the Sahara. This rapprochement between the two countries is not viewed favorably by Algeria, which severed its relations with Morocco on August 24th.
