Illustrative Image
Written by Piero Messina
We don’t need the crystal ball to bet on the next crisis in North Africa. The growing tension between Morocco and Algeria will add to the Libyan chaos and the institutional collapse of Tunisia. With a third wheel: Israel. Tel Aviv has become a strategic partner of Rabat and for Algeria this situation is becoming a factor of national security.
Since the summer of 2021, Algeria has unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing the Moroccan kingdom of “hostile acts”. Rabat contests this decision which it deems completely unjustified. The main dispute between the two Maghreb countries concerns the territory of Western Sahara. The status of this former Spanish colony, considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the United Nations, has pitted Morocco against the Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algiers, since the 1970s. Rabat, which controls almost 80 percent of this territory, supports an autonomy plan under its sovereignty. Instead, Polisario is calling for a self-determination referendum under the aegis of the UN. In the background is also the Palestine dossier: Algeria supports the Palestinian cause and judges Morocco’s growing cooperation, especially in the military sphere, with the “Zionist entity”, i.e. Israel, as extremely negative.
At the end of 2022, the King of Morocco Mohammed VI attempted to defuse tensions, inviting the President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to Rabat for a “dialogue session”. But that meeting never took place.
The arms dossier from Israel to Rabat worries the Algerian government. Over the past two years, ties between Tel Aviv and Rabat have expanded, encompassing strong military and security cooperation producing promising business opportunities. It all started thanks to the normalization agreement between the two countries, mediated by the Trump administration in 2020. With that document, the two countries signed over thirty agreements and memoranda concerning the sectors of defence, trade and agriculture. Military cooperation is certainly the most intense one.
Morocco gained direct access to Israeli defense technologies. Tel Aviv, for its part, counts on the support of the North African kingdom for a constant and gradual increase of its presence in North Africa. In the field of defence, in the last year alone, there have been two important meetings between military exponents of Morocco and Israel. The first was in November last year when the respective defense ministers signed a memorandum of understanding which provided for the purchase of armaments, information security technologies and planning of joint military exercises. Between July and September of this year, however, there was an exchange of visits between General Belkhir el-Farouk, general inspector of the Royal Armed Forces of Morocco (Forces Armées Royales, FAR), and the head of state Major of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Aviv Kochavi.
Morocco counts on intense collaborative military relations with the United States and the EU, but the partnership with Israel offers a further opportunity to improve its capabilities. From the military supermarket in Tel Aviv, Rabat has acquired five different types of drones: Heron, Hermes 900, WanderB, ThunderB, and Harfang. The shopping continues with a batch of Harop drones (known as kamikaze drones, they can fly for up to nine hours, carry 20 kg of explosives and reach a maximum speed of 225 knots) for 22 million dollars in 2021. The endowments obtained from Israel go add up the weapons that Morocco bought in China, the United States and Turkey: the Wing Loong I (Chinese), the Bayraktar TB2 (Turkish), the MQ-A1 Predator and the MQ-9B Sea Guardian (American). In 2021, the Rabat Defense Staff had purchased the Israeli Skylock Dome anti-drone system capable of identifying and neutralizing drones and thanks to an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) it is equipped for the air defense system and Barak MX missile defense, a flexible and modular missile defense system that protects soldiers from enemy fighters, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, drones and helicopters.
Algeria did not stand by and watch. The government of Algiers is in talks with North Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco) for the purchase of the SY-400 short-range ballistic missile launcher (SRBM). This would complement the Russian-made Iskander E ballistic missile system and Chinese-made YJ-12B missiles. From the Saharawi desert we can already hear the drums of war.
That means, behind this is the US which is leading Israel and according to Bob Woodward’s book Veil the CIA is ruling Morocco.
1. Morocco is a Western cuck sucker – just look up from which countries they buy weapons from (mostly Western). There are two countries that Westerns visit in the Middle East and Africa (mostly), Palestine occupied by Eastern Europeans and Morocco.
2. I say it again – the whole “peace deal/Normalization” means nothing. People make it sound like this is a big deal somehow, THEY WERE WORKING TOGETHER FOR YEARS. It is like saying Zionists weren’t/aren’t supporting Daesh/ISIL with US/NATO in Syria and Iraq, yeah no shit they were from start.
3. The whole deal between them is laughable – The US would officially recognize Morocco’s claims over Western Sahara, as a result of Morocco’s agreement to normalize relations with Israel. Do you know what the fuk the US did again? double standards of Western clowns.
4. “We can already hear the drums of war.” So be it. The whole Algeria and Morocco shit might end in war, both side doesn’t seen to care much.
Morocco is one of the oldest country in the world with 14 centries and an empire that controled africa, north africa and southern europe. It has an old jew community that always lived well with muslims, they were in the same tribes, same mountains, shared same traditions since centuries. In world cup, Morocco didn’t forget to support palestinian cause. There is no hate between moroccans and algerians, they are brothers, mixed. Morocco buys a lot of stuff from china too (not only the drones but missiles too) and didn’t vote for sanctions against Russia.
….. Morocco is a solid country du to its geography and history. That’s why it was never colonized but had a proctorat that laster 4 decades. Morocco is an empire, with a lot of tribes that couldn’t be controlled. Spanish were defeated in northern morocco and french couldn’t govern the country alone Morocco just signed with Russia a deal for a nuclear powerplant And there is a lot of cooperation between both countries in the juridic level, sea fishing, studies. That is why Russia considers Morocco as a friendly state. Kind of remembers turkish or japan policies, even Russia. Old empires that acts according to the complexity of the world. Morocco doesn’t support sanctions on russia and avoided to come to vote I think credit should be given to this country who is more a stabilizing nation than the contrary.
Morocco also supports Serbia which is good.
Basement dweller JJ345 doesn’t understand this.
And what any of that got to do with this article? Or what I said?
It is like saying Iranians live with Sunnis and Jews for a long time and without problem. That doesn’t mean anything… We aren’t talking about the people of the country but THEIR government and their government goals.
You can say the same thing to a lot of countries that are near war – FFS. Russia and Ukraine? India and Pakistan?
Do you even understand what you are saying?
As i said, moroccans are linked with their monarchy. Kingdoms don’t work like republics. It puts the country into its historical roots. If you visit Morocco, you’ll find a good balance on how they apprehend the world And difficult decisions are accepted. It is like China an old civilisation, Russian empire, ottoman empire etc…. Morocco is only few miles away from Spain (a country Morocco conquered). It is normal it has relations with west (in arabic, morocco means west), but that doesn’t mean Morocco isn’t a big partner of China and a friend of Russia. Even Russia seeks good relations with the west. And despite heavy pressure, Morocco didn’t vote for economical sanctions against Russia. I find you too harsh on this country.
France will send troops soon there, macron will order to france army
USA world war to attack all dissenters that don’t agree with their new doctrine rules based order
Doesn’t the Russian Federation wish they could reverse their vote among the UN anointed “abstaining” instead of “against” the destruction of Libya more than 10 years ago?…
And with “still water$ running deeper still”… Let them never forget what set it all in motion that they treated with indifference preserving their membership in the “G8” and watching the fireworks always from the sidelines until it was WAY past “bedtime” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV9J6sxCs5k …???!!!
Coulda… https://www.911research.wtc7.net/wtc/groundzero/cleanup.html Woulda… https://www.ae911truth.org/ Shoulda… https://www.ae911truth.org/evidence/technical-articles/articles-by-ae911truth/845-nist-confirms-its-building-7-report-is-indefensible-part-1-of-5-the-omitted-web-stiffeners
Medvedev was President then, not Putin.
Morocco is a puppet Goverment, they switched from Spain Colony to USA Colony and if Israel sell weapons it is under USA protection… so everybody in the West is with Morocco so they would win the war for sure.
Where one would wonder as to there are no surgeon in our world who could excise that cancer in our world known as I is wailing.
I is always wailing as you in the world made me hurt you.
Battered wife syndrome is that cancer of our world.
People of the gate on here deny posting.
I wonder why?
Or perhaps not.
My apologies there mods as I now see my post.
There already is no peace in North Africa.
Marocco cancro
As a South African I want to emphatically state the the Muslim community does not agree with our government who relations with the sahrawi and the illegal polisario front. It’s by time Mr ramaphosa smells the coffee. We need to have the best diplomatic relationship with Morocco.