Cooperation between Morocco and Israel has developed at an extraordinary pace. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords in December 2020, under which Rabat and Tel Aviv normalised diplomatic relations in exchange for recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, military and defence cooperation has continued to expand. In November 2021, just months after the accords were signed and during the first official visit to Rabat by Israel’s then defence minister, Benny Gantz, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on defence.
The memorandum formalised cooperation on intelligence and information sharing, military training and mutual logistical support, while opening the door to sales of Israeli weapons and military technology to Morocco. In little more than five years, the Alaouite kingdom has established a first-order strategic relationship with Israel, which now supplies 24% of its military imports –second only to the United States (60%) and ahead of France (10%).
Air defence and artillery
To date, the Royal Moroccan Army has been the main beneficiary of the large-scale arms purchases made over the past five years. Among the systems acquired by Morocco since 2020 that can be regarded as strategic, the most notable is the advanced Barak MX multi-layered air defence system, purchased from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in 2022 for $500 million. This sophisticated system has a range of between 35 and 150 kilometres, and its command centre has been installed at the new Sidi Yahya el Gharb military base, around 200 kilometres from Ceuta. The Barak MX places Morocco among the few countries in the world with an air defence system capable of intercepting aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. It employs three types of missile –MRAD, LRAD and ER– depending on the required range, integrated with the powerful ELM-2084 MMR radar.
To field equivalent multi-layered capabilities, Spain must combine two complementary systems: the Norwegian NASAMS for medium-range defence and the US-made MIM-104 Patriot for long-range and anti-missile defence. Spain currently has 18 MIM-104 Patriot M901 launchers in active service, six of which have been continuously deployed since 2015 at Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, as part of NATO’s Operation Active Fence to protect Turkish airspace against potential ballistic missile threats.
In the field of tactical land artillery, Morocco acquired 36 ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzers in 2025. The 155-millimetre systems are mounted on wheeled platforms and manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit Systems. Their 155 mm/52-calibre guns can engage targets at ranges of more than 40 kilometres. In this category, Spain operates the SIAC 155/52 howitzer, manufactured by Santa Bárbara Sistemas in 2025, which offers a similar range but less mobility because it must be towed by a support truck over long distances. The systems are currently undergoing modernisation.
As for multiple rocket launchers, Morocco is estimated to have acquired between eight and 12 units of the modern PULS (Precise and Universal Launching System) from the same Israeli company, Elbit Systems, in a deal worth $150 million. Deliveries are under way this year. This is the same company that Spain’s Ministry of Defence excluded from the Spanish SILAM (High-Mobility Rocket Launcher System) programme, which envisaged manufacturing in Spain a system based on the PULS under licence from Elbit Systems. The decision formed part of the Spanish government’s arms-embargo policy towards Israel in response to the war in Gaza. Spain currently has no comparable system in active service.
Drones and long-range surveillance
Morocco is also known to have acquired several Israeli drone platforms. These include the WanderB and ThunderB tactical models –with payloads of up to 500 kilograms– manufactured by BlueBird Aero Systems, as well as Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450. Morocco also operates strategic MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) platforms, including the Hermes 900, manufactured by Elbit Systems, and the Heron 1 from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
These drones are deployed primarily at bases that are key to monitoring the Atlantic coast and the Saharan frontier, including Ben Guerir and Dakhla in Western Sahara. They are also stationed at Mahbes airfield, a forward position close to the Algerian border and areas of conflict.
MALE drones are designed to fly continuously at altitudes of between 3,000 and 9,000 metres and conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, as well as precision strikes when carrying weapons, for periods of up to 48 hours. They can carry payloads of up to 5,000 kilograms. In addition to its Israeli platforms, Morocco is awaiting delivery of four MQ-9B SeaGuardian aircraft from US manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). Spain operates four units of an earlier model, the MQ-9A Predator B, acquired in 2019, and is participating alongside Germany, France and Italy in the development of the Eurodrone, a European MALE unmanned aircraft programme.
In the tactical segment, Spain has also acquired 27 Airbus Sirtap aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2027. Through the Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel’s (DGAM) Rapaz Programme, it has also contracted Aertec to provide operational technical support using its Tarsis 75 drone during specific Spanish Army artillery training exercises. This presents a striking contrast with Morocco’s procurement policy in this field.
Cybersecurity and espionage
It should also be stressed that, with Israel’s assistance, Morocco has become the African country with the most advanced cybersecurity capabilities. These include an extensive arsenal of spyware, data-extraction systems and cutting-edge military surveillance hardware acquired from Israeli companies, such as Pegasus (NSO Group), NightHawk (Interionet Systems Ltd) and UFED (Cellebrite). Morocco has also agreed to purchase two next-generation Ofek 13 spy satellites from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for approximately $1 billion. The deal was signed in July 2024, with delivery expected by the end of the decade.
Largely unknown to the wider public until a few years ago, Pegasus has become one of Morocco’s tools in the field of cyber espionage. It came to prominence in Spain during a period of acute diplomatic tension with Rabat, following the mass influx of migrants into Ceuta in 2021 and the return to Algeria of the Polisario Front leader, who had been treated in a Spanish hospital. According to reports in the press, Morocco’s domestic intelligence service, the DGST, used Pegasus independently to gain negotiating leverage and obtain sensitive information on Spain. Between 2020 and 2021, the mobile phones of Spain’s prime minister and the ministers of defence, the interior and agriculture were infiltrated using Pegasus. Rabat’s primary objective may have been to force a historic shift in Spain’s position on Western Sahara –something it ultimately achieved in 2022, when the prime minister changed the country’s official stance.
Although Pegasus was developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group and its export requires approval from Israel’s Ministry of Defence as part of the country’s so-called ‘spyware diplomacy’, describing Morocco as a mere pro-Israeli proxy in its currently strained relations with Spain would underestimate the sophistication of the Alaouite kingdom’s own intelligence services. What is difficult to dispute, however, is that six years after establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, Morocco has emerged as an independent geopolitical actor that leverages its strong military and technological alliances with Israel –and the United States– to pressure Spain in pursuit of its territorial and diplomatic interests.
Institutionalised military cooperation
Military and defence cooperation between Israel and Morocco has not been confined to the defence industry. It has now reached levels that would have been difficult to imagine six years ago. A Joint Military Committee (JMC) has met annually since 2020, establishing a permanent channel for coordination. The committee is the highest-level official forum for military engagement between the two countries and sets annual work plans defining the strategic areas of cooperation between the Israel Defense Forces and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.
At the latest JMC meeting, held in Tel Aviv in early January 2026, the two sides agreed –unlike at previous meetings– to structure defence cooperation around four areas: technological and industrial innovation, operational readiness, intelligence and cyber defence, and long-term force development. In technological innovation, the aim is to make a fundamental change to defence procurement strategy by moving from a model based on one-off commercial arms transactions to the long-term institutionalisation of defence cooperation. It is a striking example of how rapidly military and defence ties have been normalised and strengthened.
Cooperation between Morocco and Israel has developed at an extraordinary pace. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords in December 2020, under which Rabat and Tel Aviv normalised diplomatic relations in exchange for recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, military and defence cooperation has continued to expand. In November 2021, just months after the accords were signed and during the first official visit to Rabat by Israel’s then defence minister, Benny Gantz, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on defence.
The memorandum formalised cooperation on intelligence and information sharing, military training and mutual logistical support, while opening the door to sales of Israeli weapons and military technology to Morocco. In little more than five years, the Alaouite kingdom has established a first-order strategic relationship with Israel, which now supplies 24% of its military imports –second only to the United States (60%) and ahead of France (10%).
Air defence and artillery
To date, the Royal Moroccan Army has been the main beneficiary of the large-scale arms purchases made over the past five years. Among the systems acquired by Morocco since 2020 that can be regarded as strategic, the most notable is the advanced Barak MX multi-layered air defence system, purchased from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in 2022 for $500 million. This sophisticated system has a range of between 35 and 150 kilometres, and its command centre has been installed at the new Sidi Yahya el Gharb military base, around 200 kilometres from Ceuta. The Barak MX places Morocco among the few countries in the world with an air defence system capable of intercepting aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. It employs three types of missile –MRAD, LRAD and ER– depending on the required range, integrated with the powerful ELM-2084 MMR radar.
To field equivalent multi-layered capabilities, Spain must combine two complementary systems: the Norwegian NASAMS for medium-range defence and the US-made MIM-104 Patriot for long-range and anti-missile defence. Spain currently has 18 MIM-104 Patriot M901 launchers in active service, six of which have been continuously deployed since 2015 at Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, as part of NATO’s Operation Active Fence to protect Turkish airspace against potential ballistic missile threats.
In the field of tactical land artillery, Morocco acquired 36 ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzers in 2025. The 155-millimetre systems are mounted on wheeled platforms and manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit Systems. Their 155 mm/52-calibre guns can engage targets at ranges of more than 40 kilometres. In this category, Spain operates the SIAC 155/52 howitzer, manufactured by Santa Bárbara Sistemas in 2025, which offers a similar range but less mobility because it must be towed by a support truck over long distances. The systems are currently undergoing modernisation.
As for multiple rocket launchers, Morocco is estimated to have acquired between eight and 12 units of the modern PULS (Precise and Universal Launching System) from the same Israeli company, Elbit Systems, in a deal worth $150 million. Deliveries are under way this year. This is the same company that Spain’s Ministry of Defence excluded from the Spanish SILAM (High-Mobility Rocket Launcher System) programme, which envisaged manufacturing in Spain a system based on the PULS under licence from Elbit Systems. The decision formed part of the Spanish government’s arms-embargo policy towards Israel in response to the war in Gaza. Spain currently has no comparable system in active service.
Drones and long-range surveillance
Morocco is also known to have acquired several Israeli drone platforms. These include the WanderB and ThunderB tactical models –with payloads of up to 500 kilograms– manufactured by BlueBird Aero Systems, as well as Elbit Systems’ Hermes 450. Morocco also operates strategic MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) platforms, including the Hermes 900, manufactured by Elbit Systems, and the Heron 1 from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
These drones are deployed primarily at bases that are key to monitoring the Atlantic coast and the Saharan frontier, including Ben Guerir and Dakhla in Western Sahara. They are also stationed at Mahbes airfield, a forward position close to the Algerian border and areas of conflict.
MALE drones are designed to fly continuously at altitudes of between 3,000 and 9,000 metres and conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, as well as precision strikes when carrying weapons, for periods of up to 48 hours. They can carry payloads of up to 5,000 kilograms. In addition to its Israeli platforms, Morocco is awaiting delivery of four MQ-9B SeaGuardian aircraft from US manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). Spain operates four units of an earlier model, the MQ-9A Predator B, acquired in 2019, and is participating alongside Germany, France and Italy in the development of the Eurodrone, a European MALE unmanned aircraft programme.
In the tactical segment, Spain has also acquired 27 Airbus Sirtap aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2027. Through the Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel’s (DGAM) Rapaz Programme, it has also contracted Aertec to provide operational technical support using its Tarsis 75 drone during specific Spanish Army artillery training exercises. This presents a striking contrast with Morocco’s procurement policy in this field.
Cybersecurity and espionage
It should also be stressed that, with Israel’s assistance, Morocco has become the African country with the most advanced cybersecurity capabilities. These include an extensive arsenal of spyware, data-extraction systems and cutting-edge military surveillance hardware acquired from Israeli companies, such as Pegasus (NSO Group), NightHawk (Interionet Systems Ltd) and UFED (Cellebrite). Morocco has also agreed to purchase two next-generation Ofek 13 spy satellites from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for approximately $1 billion. The deal was signed in July 2024, with delivery expected by the end of the decade.
Largely unknown to the wider public until a few years ago, Pegasus has become one of Morocco’s tools in the field of cyber espionage. It came to prominence in Spain during a period of acute diplomatic tension with Rabat, following the mass influx of migrants into Ceuta in 2021 and the return to Algeria of the Polisario Front leader, who had been treated in a Spanish hospital. According to reports in the press, Morocco’s domestic intelligence service, the DGST, used Pegasus independently to gain negotiating leverage and obtain sensitive information on Spain. Between 2020 and 2021, the mobile phones of Spain’s prime minister and the ministers of defence, the interior and agriculture were infiltrated using Pegasus. Rabat’s primary objective may have been to force a historic shift in Spain’s position on Western Sahara –something it ultimately achieved in 2022, when the prime minister changed the country’s official stance.
Although Pegasus was developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group and its export requires approval from Israel’s Ministry of Defence as part of the country’s so-called ‘spyware diplomacy’, describing Morocco as a mere pro-Israeli proxy in its currently strained relations with Spain would underestimate the sophistication of the Alaouite kingdom’s own intelligence services. What is difficult to dispute, however, is that six years after establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, Morocco has emerged as an independent geopolitical actor that leverages its strong military and technological alliances with Israel –and the United States– to pressure Spain in pursuit of its territorial and diplomatic interests.
Institutionalised military cooperation
Military and defence cooperation between Israel and Morocco has not been confined to the defence industry. It has now reached levels that would have been difficult to imagine six years ago. A Joint Military Committee (JMC) has met annually since 2020, establishing a permanent channel for coordination. The committee is the highest-level official forum for military engagement between the two countries and sets annual work plans defining the strategic areas of cooperation between the Israel Defense Forces and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.
At the latest JMC meeting, held in Tel Aviv in early January 2026, the two sides agreed –unlike at previous meetings– to structure defence cooperation around four areas: technological and industrial innovation, operational readiness, intelligence and cyber defence, and long-term force development. In technological innovation, the aim is to make a fundamental change to defence procurement strategy by moving from a model based on one-off commercial arms transactions to the long-term institutionalisation of defence cooperation. It is a striking example of how rapidly military and defence ties have been normalised and strengthened.
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