As Israel and Morocco Ready to Sign a Trade Deal, Analyst Says Relations Are Still on a Low Flame

Since the two nations agreed to normalise ties in December 2020, they have inked a number of important pacts. Direct flights have been established to boost the tourism industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, Rabat decided to fork half a billion dollars to purchase the Jewish state's Air and Missile defence systems.

Israel's Economy Minister Orna Barbivai is expected later today in Morocco in a move that's aimed at bolstering ties between the nations.

During her visit, Barbivai will meet with Moroccan ministers, officials and business leaders in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh. She is also expected to sign a trade and economic agreement with the North African country.

Since the two nations normalised ties in December 2020 as part of the historic Abraham Accords, they have inked a number of important agreements. They agreed on direct flights to boost tourism, which had been dealt a blow by the coronavirus pandemic. They reopened their liaison offices and they put an emphasis on broadening economic cooperation.

Lately, Morocco has also sealed a deal with Israel according to which it would fork out $500 million for the Jewish state's Barak Air and Missile defence systems, equipment that is set to protect the nation from local and regional threats.

Low Flame

Amine Ayoub, a Morocco-based economic consultant and educator, says apart from defence and the economy, "nothing new" is really going on.

"Israel will continue to sell its technology to Morocco but we will not see any projects from which the Moroccan youth will be benefiting. We won't see any Israeli manufacturing plants coming in. It might happen at a later stage but not now".

It is difficult to explain why Israel has limited its cooperation with Morocco to these spheres. One of the reasons could be that it'd rather focus on the development of ties with other signatories of the Abraham Accords, namely the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two Gulf states with significant budgets.

Another could be Israel's domestic problems, such as the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis it triggered. And that means that bolstering ties with Morocco might not be the Jewish state's main priority.

Internal Issues

For its part, Morocco has its own reasons to keep those relations on a low flame.

"In 2020, [then US President Donald] Trump recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for normalising relations with Israel. But now with the current US administration, many things are still unclear, so we still have issues," explained Ayoub.

However, the uncertainly over Washington's position regarding the disputed territory is just one of the issues. Another is the Palestinian cause and anti-Israel public opinion.

Before Morocco signed its normalisation deal with Israel, a poll -- conducted by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies, revealed that 70 percent of Moroccans believed the Palestinian cause concerned all Arabs, rather than the Palestinians alone.

The same survey also revealed that 88 percent of respondents rejected a normalisation pact with Israel.

Now, however, almost two years after the historic agreements, opinions have started shifting, with another poll indicating that more than 40 percent accepted Morocco's normalisation agreement with Israel. Ayoub explains this change was due to a shift in the public's set of priorities and the fact that it has bigger fish to fry.

"Citizens are more concerned about their living conditions. They are worried about the economy, the high prices on food, gas and other basic utilities. They think about the drought and their daily lives. Israel is not one of their concerns."