Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, is scheduled to pay a visit to Morocco next week, says his office.
Gantz is expected to sign a defence deal with Rabat during his visit, as well as meet with his counterpart and with the Moroccan Foreign Minister.
Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, visited Morocco in August to officially open up the Israeli Liaison Office in Rabat as well as meet with officials and sign a series of agreements.
On December 10, 2020, Morocco signed a normalization agreement with Israel, becoming the second North African country—after Egypt in 1978 with the Camp David Accords—to recognize the Jewish State.
Relations between Morocco and Israel have always been more than just cordial. Although Morocco did not formally recognize Israel until the Abraham Accords, it maintained informal ties with the Jewish State and, unlike many other Arab countries, allowed Israelis to visit the country. In 2020 alone, around seventy thousand Israelis visited Morocco.
The relationship between Morocco and Israel has strong historical roots. Morocco was home to the largest Jewish community in the Arab world, most of whom came from Spain after the 1491 expulsion by the Spanish Catholic monarchy.
After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, many Moroccan Jews were forced to emigrate to the country as a consequence of rising antisemitism in local cities across Morocco. Today, Israel is home to some one million Moroccan Jews and is strongly interconnected with the Kingdom.