Israeli-Moroccan Relations

In 1948, about 250,000 Jews lived in Morocco. Since the founding of the State of Israel, the politicians of this state have held secrets of meeting with the leaders of Morocco. In 1976, King of Hassan II of Morocco began to mediate between the leaders of the Arab countries and Israel. In 1976, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made a secret visit to Morocco, which led to a secret meeting in September 1977 of King Hassan II and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan . In 1978, the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel were signed, with King Hassan II playing the role of mediator. In July 1978 and March 1981, an Israeli politician, Shimon Peres, made secret trips to Morocco ^[1] .

In May 1984, 35 prominent Israelis of Moroccan descent attended a conference in Rabat . In May 1985, Israeli Deputy Minister of Agriculture Abraham Katz-Oz paid an official visit to Morocco to discuss possible agricultural cooperation between the two countries. In August 1986, Moroccan agricultural experts and journalists reportedly visited Israel, and Israeli Transport Minister Haim Corfu attended a transport conference in Morocco. On July 22 and 23, 1986, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres negotiated with King Hassan II at the Royal Palace in Ifrane , which was the first public meeting between an Arab leader and an Israeli Prime Minister since the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations in the late 1970s. . However, Hassan II and Shimon Peres could not agree on possible options for resolving the Palestinian aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict . Morocco has developed good relations with the local Jewish community, which in 1988 totaled about 18,000 people ^[1] .

In 1994, Morocco and Israel established diplomatic relations. In Tel Aviv , Morocco represented one diplomat, and in Rabat, Israel opened a bureau, there were several full-time employees on the staff. On October 27, 2000, Morocco severed relations with Israel due to the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada ^{[2] [3]} .

At the end of January 2019, the media reported on the upcoming visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Morocco. At the same time, Tunisia and Algeria announced that they would close their airspace for the Netanyahu plane. ^[four]

On May 17, 2018, in the Moroccan city of Kenitra, a parade was held in honor of the 62nd anniversary of the Moroccan police, where local police marched with an Israeli IWI Tavor X95 assault rifle. Local media drew attention to this, as well as the Mena Defense agency published information on the purchase. ^[5] Nevertheless, the leadership of the Moroccan police later issued an official statement in which they “categorically rejected” any rumors about the purchase of firearms in Israel, and also indicated that the purchase agreement was concluded with a specialized European company. ^[6]

In December 2018, Israeli musicians first participated in one of the music festivals held in Casablanca. At this festival, Jews and Muslims performed together, as well as Jewish songs and general prayer in Hebrew and Arabic. ^[7]