Morocco Invests $1 Billion in Israeli Spy Satellites, Boosting Military Ties

Since the normalization of their diplomatic relations in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords under the aegis of the United States, Morocco and Israel have intensified their military cooperation. Last week, the president of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Amir Peretz, was in Rabat to sign a contract for the purchase of two Ofek-13 spy satellites, which will be delivered to Morocco within five years, reports El Confidencial.

The Ofek-13 satellite is the most advanced of the satellites used by the intelligence services of the Israeli army. The first model was put into orbit on March 29, 2023 by a Shavit-2 rocket from the Palmachim air base in central Israel. This state-of-the-art satellite has "unique radar observation capabilities and will allow the collection of information in all weather and visibility conditions, thus improving strategic intelligence," said the Israeli Ministry of Defense after its launch.

Once delivered to Morocco, the Ofek-13 satellite will be dedicated to surveillance missions in the Sahara where the kingdom has been waging a low-intensity war with the Polisario Front since November 2020. It will also be used for espionage missions against the Algerian army, an ally of the independence movement, and will be deployed towards Spanish airspace to obtain images of its military bases. The Ofek-13s are intended to replace the spy satellites Mohammed VI-A and Mohammed VI-B, which were put into service in 2017 and 2018, informs the Spanish media.

The signing of this contract was materialized at the beginning of the month, but the order was concluded since the end of 2023, reveals the publication, stressing that this contract is the largest between Israel and Morocco since the announcement in February 2022 of the order of the Barak MX air defense and anti-missile systems for the benefit of the Royal Armed Forces for an amount of about 500 million dollars (460 million euros). According to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 11% of Morocco’s arms imports in 2023 come from Israel.