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Relations between Morocco and Israel are warmer than what they look like, confirms Galei Tzahal, an Army radio station that belongs to Israel’s Ministry of Defense, reports World Israel News.
Speaking Monday, 2nd of June, on the inexistent diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and the Israeli entity, the radio station insisted that Israel has more active contacts with Morocco in almost every field when compared to other Arab countries in the region, including Egypt and Jordan.
«There are many contacts, both open and secret, in almost every field you could think of», stated Einat Levy of Mitvim, a researcher at the Israel Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, a think tank known as Mivtim.
Although many Moroccans object normalization with the «Jewish state», cooperation is something that cannot be overlooked, claimed the radio station. Backing its claims, the reporter from the program broadcasted today, indicated that «30,000 Israeli tourists visited Morocco in 2017, and Moroccan exports to Israel have gone from $5 million to $25 million in the past five years».
For the record, in September 1994 Morocco and Israel announced the opening of bilateral liaison offices. In 2000 Rabat cut official diplomatic ties with Israel as a response to the Second Intifada, closing the foreign office.
Nowadays, 800,000 Jews of Moroccan origin live in Israel, said the Mivtim’s researcher. Israel has «the second-largest Moroccan Diaspora in the world», she explained.
«They don’t prevent cooperation»
For the researcher, Morocco welcomes thousands of Israeli tourists annually unlike other Arab countries in the region and many Israeli citizens «compete in international tournaments under their own flag», says the same source, referring to the Agadir Grand Prix for Judo during which the Hatvika (Jewish anthem) was played.
Commenting on relations between Morocco and Israel, Levy pointed at the delegations that visit Tel Aviv. Based on the account of a Moroccan journalist who visited Israel, the same source added that no one blocked these people from entering Israel, including their own country.
«At the end of the day, they don’t prevent cooperation but they do prevent Israel and Morocco from realizing the [full] potential of their relationship».
During the reign of Hassan II, Moroccan troops participated to the Yom Kippur War, known also as the October war, against Israel. In 1986, the Moroccan sovereign was the second Arab leader to receive Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres.
