Marruecos continúa mostrando interés en armamento israelí tras la Cumbre del Néguev
The Alawi kingdom continues to strengthen its relationship with Israel, which is shown mainly in the signing and acquisition of military equipment. Since the establishment of new relations in 2020 by the Abraham Accords, the two countries have expressed their interest in military armaments, as evidenced by the successive treaties signed to purchase weapons, defence systems and missiles, and even to work on military bases to defend the territory.
After the end of the Negev Summit, where the four major Arab powers and Israel met, Morocco's intention to continue cooperating with Israel in military terms was expressed. According to the Israeli business daily Globes, the Kingdom is determined to acquire more equipment from Israel to improve the nation's defence and strike system.
According to Globes, Morocco is targeting three specific defence systems. Among them is the Iron Dome, which has been one of the Kingdom's main interests for several months now. This is a modern mobile air defence system that incorporates missiles in its structure. These are capable of intercepting and eliminating other missiles or rockets sent to attack any territory from long distances.
The second of these is the Green Pine, a radar system. The main mission of this device is to identify attacks, as well as to find out where they come from, stop them, track them and can also be used to guide missiles to destroy the attacks. Israel confirms that this weapon is capable of detecting targets at very long distances.
Finally, Morocco wants the Arrow, a system that incorporates ballistic missiles. This is a tool that serves as an interceptor of attack elements and is said to be one of the most modern defence systems at the moment, as it has been modernised over time since its construction in 1990, improving its structure and accuracy.
"At least two of Israel's top three defence companies and two smaller companies have already received purchase requests for the Iron Dome, although approval of the sale is in the hands of the Defence Ministry," the same media outlet quoted above as saying.
The newspaper also claimed that the Israeli developers of these systems will be the ones to reap the most success when they sell their products. "Rafael Advance Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries will be the main beneficiaries of the Iron Dome supply deals if they come to fruition," it said.
The former is the Hebrew nation's largest arms company, while the latter has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Moroccan Ministry of Industry for aircraft manufacturing. Morocco offers an aeronautical sector that is highly desirable to many countries, which have recently become very interested in the advantages it offers.
The Negev Summit concluded with a historic meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Israel, who met near the desert that gives the event its name, on Israeli soil. Even the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who was in the Kingdom a few days ago to work with the government and reaffirmed the US position on the sovereignty of Western Sahara, was present.
Nasser Bourita, the Moroccan Foreign Minister, described the meeting as the best response to terrorism. This conference is being held to identify the common enemies of these four Arab countries and Israel. At the same meeting, Yair Lapid, the Israeli minister, expressed his support for the North African nation in the Saharawi conflict. This was supported by the other nations, who agreed to "join their efforts to counter attempts to undermine Morocco's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
This year's event focused mainly on the nuclear negotiations with Tehran and the issue of Iran as a threat to regional stability. The summit once again showed that the relationship between Rabat and Tel Aviv is at a high point, and that the problems they have had are now a thing of the past.
