Israeli army chief in Morocco for first visit
The Rabat visit of IDF chief Aviv Kochavi reflects rapprochement between the countries on regional security cooperation.
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi is on a visit to Morocco this week, marking the first ever public visit by Israel’s top soldier in uniform to the Arab state. Kochavi’s three-day visit is being hosted by Moroccan Defense Minister Abdellatif Loudiyi and army commander Lt. Gen. Belkbhir El-Farouk. Kochavi is accompanied by the head of the military’s Intelligence Research Division Brig. Gen. Amit Saar, perhaps indicating the more clandestine nature of his talks and their true goal: deepening military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.
Morocco has little if anything to contribute to Israel’s national security, but Israel, and especially its vaunted signals intelligence and cyber unit 8200, could prove helpful in Morocco’s ongoing conflict with Algeria and the Polisario rebels over the Western Sahara, according to Western assessments.
