yesterday Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has announced a $1 billion, five-year deal with an unnamed third party. Foreign media reported that the deal relates to satellites first announced last year. The presence of IAI CEO Amir Peretz in Morocco when the deal was announced also bolstered the reports.
Morocco is one of the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords in 2020. Its impact on the Israeli defense industry has been most significant. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), between 2019 and 2023, Israel was the world’s ninth-largest exporter of defense equipment. SIPRI found that although Morocco and Israel had not normalized relations until December 2020, Israel was already Morocco’s third-largest defense importer, providing 11% of its needs.
Morocco’s challenges
Since Peretz’s appointment as head of IAI, the company has become a very important player in Morocco’s defense industry. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported six months ago that Morocco wanted to buy two Ofek 13 spy satellites from Israel. These surveillance satellites are considered among the best in the world and are used by the Israel Defense Forces’ Intelligence Unit 9900, which is responsible for collecting and extracting visual geographic information.
The deal was interesting in the context of the commercial competition between major Israeli and French defense companies. Morocco preferred the Ofek 13 satellite over those of Airbus and Thales, its previous suppliers in this field. Several months later, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to exclude Israeli companies from the prestigious Eurosatory defense and space fair in Paris.
Although France attributed the decision to the war in Gaza, it is possible to assume that commercial and political considerations were also behind the move. The French president may have been influenced by the historic deal to sell the long-range Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany for $3.5 billion, and the medium-range David’s Sling air defense system from Rafael to Finland for €316 million. Such deals put Israeli technology in the headlines, and unlike most French systems, it has proven its worth on the battlefield.
This latest deal can be added to the many deals Israel has signed with Morocco. IAI sold the Barak MX air defense system to Morocco in 2022 for $540 million. The system includes three interceptor missiles: the Barak MRAD with a range of up to 35 kilometers; the Barak LRAD with a range of up to 70 kilometers; and the Barak ER with a range of up to 150 kilometers. Intelligence Online also reported last year that IAI had completed the delivery of three Heron 1 drones to Morocco. This $48 million deal was unusual because it was signed in 2014, through a joint venture between IAI and Airbus.
Another important player in Morocco’s defense procurement is BlueBird Aero Systems, in which IAI has held a 50% stake since 2020. In recent years, BlueBird has supplied Morocco with a variety of products, including the SpyX loitering munition, as well as the WonderB and ThunderB vertical takeoff and landing drone systems. BlueBird CEO Ronen Nader told ZM in April that the company had set up a production plant in Morocco, which is expected to start operating soon.
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At the regional geopolitical level, Morocco’s extensive defense purchases from Israel have been a challenge for Rabat in recent months more than ever. However, Morocco faces significant security challenges that need to be addressed, with a focus on Western Sahara and its eastern neighbor Algeria, a long-standing and close friend of Palestinian terrorist organizations.
In July 2023, during the IDF operation in the Jenin refugee camp, senior Hamas official Khaled Meshaal gave a speech at the Grand Mosque in Algiers, congratulating Algeria on its “heroic stance in the Palestinian struggle” in Jenin. At the same time, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebban announced the allocation of $30 million to rebuild the damage in Jenin.
Algeria is also a major supporter of the Polisario Front separatist movement seeking Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco. On the other hand, Israel last year officially announced its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Critics of Morocco’s Western Sahara policy have recently highlighted the use of Israeli missiles during the war in Gaza. The left-wing French newspaper L’Humanité reported four months ago that the Moroccan military was operating out of a base at Smara airport in Western Sahara using Hermes 900 and Hermes 450 drones made by Elbit Systems. Israel is using the same drones in Gaza today.
Last year, The Intercept published a report by Federico Borsari, a researcher specializing in drone technology at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). According to Borsari, Morocco has about 150 vertical takeoff and landing drones (Blue Bird’s WonderB, ThunderB, and SpyX), three IAI Heron drones and IAI’s Harop loitering munitions systems, and four Elbit Systems Hermes drones.
Not just weapons
Security cooperation between Israel and Morocco is not limited to weapons. As Globes revealed, the IDF’s new landing ship, the INS Komemiut, arrived in Israel about a month ago from the United States—after stopping in Morocco to refuel on its long journey from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to the naval base in Haifa. In Tangier, the crew stocked up on fuel and food for the journey to Israel.
Another area where the two countries and defense companies are engaging is in the world of research. Israel Aerospace Industries signed a memorandum of understanding with the International University of Rabat last year to create a center of excellence in the fields of aerospace, artificial intelligence and innovation.
This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on July 10, 2024.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.
