The recognition by the USA of the Moroccanness of the Sahara has given unprecedented momentum to this dossier. At the same time, the importance of Morocco as a regional economic and geopolitical player is growing.
The House of Councilors is in the process of adopting an agreement signed between Morocco and Israel last February on economic and commercial cooperation. The bill, validated by the 1st Chamber, should be adopted at the same time as another convention on cooperation in air transport. The two texts should formalize an already existing cooperation framework in both areas. Trade between the two parties jumped 925% in October compared to the same period last year, according to the Abraham Accords Peace Institute (AAPI). The explosion of tourism, and therefore the multiplication of direct flights, did not wait for the implementation of this legal formalism either. The tripartite agreement does not only have economic advantages.
In this sense, and last September, the American Secretary of State notably mentioned the “transformative” advances made thanks to the tripartite agreement to restore relations between Morocco and Israel. The American official, at the same time, reiterated the commitment of the United States to contribute to “strengthen and deepen” these partnerships. Diplomacy, economy, defence, security, culture, but also science, education and health, never before have cooperation agreements encompassed so many areas at the same time and reached such an advanced level in such a short time. In barely two years, and as many observers point out, cooperation between the two countries has gone beyond “simple diplomatic normalization”. Or to be more exact, “resumption” of diplomatic relations. This cooperation has turned into a strategic partnership which is in the process of modifying the balance in the region, with, to put it mildly, the emergence of Morocco as an actor, if not to say a leading regional power. rank.
The recognition, on December 10, 2020, by the American President of the Moroccanness of the Sahara, the signing a few days later, on December 22, of the tripartite agreement between Morocco, the United States and Israel, did not take long. , in fact, to reshape the nature of geopolitical balances in this area of North Africa and well beyond. In two years, two draft Security Council resolutions drafted by the United States in line with their new position, have passed like a letter in the mail. Notoriously, China voted for the two resolutions and Russia contented itself with timidly opposing a few objections before finally abstaining at the time of the vote. In two years, Spain and Germany have changed their position on the Sahara issue. The American influence has a lot to do with it, in one way or another. Mere coincidence perhaps, but since the signing of the tripartite agreement, there has been countless support for the Moroccan position and the Moroccanness of the Sahara. Support from all regions of the world. This to the point that the Kingdom, strong in its multiple and diversified alliances, is now in a position to demand and obtain greater clarity from its partners.
A summit in Dakhla in 2023
On the ground, the reality has changed markedly. The FAR respond in the firmest way to the multiple provocations of the Polisario militia beyond the security apparatus. And it is an open secret to say that thanks to drones Morocco holds absolute supremacy on the ground. And precisely drones, the Kingdom, as mentioned by the press, in particular Israeli, has acquired a substantial batch of them from this country. And, still within the framework of the defense agreement between the two States, it is even about to build some locally. This would be the starting point, or at least one of the pillars, of the brand new military industry that the Kingdom has just launched.
A sign of the unique nature of the resumption of relations between Morocco and Israel, the latter has experienced a change of government twice in the past two years, but the determination to move forward in cooperation with the Kingdom is even more strong. This is clearly reflected in a recent statement by the former Minister of Justice and Internal Security, now a Likud MP – a party that has just won the elections – Amir Ohana. Indeed, he said, “we want to go further and consolidate the gains”. Morocco, “as it is a country that has a very special place, we want to strengthen bilateral cooperation (with it, editor’s note) and move up a gear”. A sign that, just after the appointment of Netanyahu’s new government, the diplomatic ballet and the visits of Israeli officials to Morocco will undoubtedly resume quickly and even more vigorously.
On another aspect, and according to the Israeli media, the second edition of the Negev Summit, scheduled for 2023, should take place in the Kingdom, in Dakhla, more precisely. Let us remember, during the first edition of this historic event which, at the end of March, brought together Israel, the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in the Negev desert, the head of diplomacy Moroccan had announced at the end of this meeting: “I hope that we will meet again soon in a different desert but with the same spirit”. The wish is about to be granted. It is not just a meeting of foreign ministers from five countries, a number that will change, but it is a regional alliance in the making.
Economy: Cooperation in the broad sense
Agriculture, industry, technology, renewable energies, tourism… Difficult to find an area that is not affected in the cooperation between Morocco and Israel. Thus, in the overall economic field, and during the visit to Rabat last February by the Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry in the former government, Orna Barbivay, the two countries signed an agreement increase the annual value of trade over the next five years from $131 million to $500 million. For the moment, three sectors are prioritized: agri-food, automotive and textiles. Less than a month later, the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of the civil aeronautics and aerospace industry in Morocco. In the aftermath, and during a visit by the Minister of the Interior of the Hebrew State to our country, a partnership was even mentioned in terms of manpower. The agreement signed at the end of June for the hiring of Moroccan workers in the nursing and construction sectors is a first concretization of this. The economic actors of the two countries were quick to join this momentum. Held last March, on the sidelines of RAM’s inaugural Casablanca-Tel Aviv flight, the first Morocco-Israel Economic Forum was attended by 80 Moroccan business leaders and more than 300 Israeli companies operating in different sectors in the objective of laying the groundwork for a strong, sustainable economic and commercial partnership that creates added value and jobs. From this meeting, a business council was born with the mission of maintaining the link between the business communities of the two countries.