In the draft military budget for the year 2023, presented to Congress at the end of July, the United States plans to finance an air defense network in the countries of the MENA region. American aid would be intended for Arab countries, including Morocco, which has normalized its relations with Israel within the framework of the Abraham Accords.
“Funds allocated under this heading, including those intended for assistance to Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, and any member country of the Gulf Cooperation as the Secretary of State deems appropriate, should be used in part to enhance multilateral defense cooperation with Israel and to establish integrated air defense networks between those countries and Israel, even to counter missile attacks and systems of drones from Iran and its proxies,” reads the draft military budget for the fiscal year 2023.
Morocco is one of the potential beneficiaries of this American aid, of a provisional amount of 6 billion dollars, because of the risk of an armed conflict with the Polisario Front which has the support of Iran. According to the Moroccan media, the kingdom would be harmed in setting up these air defense networks, given its geographical position in relation to other countries receiving American aid. On the other hand, this aid could be directly invested in further strengthening the air defense systems of the kingdom, reports Atalaya.
With this support from the American government, Morocco could become the military superpower of the region and thus supplant Algeria. According to well-informed sources, the military base is set up about 30 km east of the city of Kenitra could house the Patriot missile systems which the American Congress has finally authorized for sale to Morocco. With Israel, the kingdom reached an agreement in early 2022 to acquire the Barak 8 systems, which should considerably strengthen its air defense which already has the Sky Dragon 50 and the FD-2000B, two Chinese-made systems.
According to some Spanish security and defense experts, Algeria is the main reason for Morocco’s rearmament. The crisis between the two countries has intensified over the past year. Algeria broke diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021 and closed the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline crossing the kingdom in October. To the question of the Sahara which divided the two countries, was added the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel. In recent weeks, attempts to ease tensions have been noted on both sides.
