Moroccan university signs agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries

The International University of Rabat and Israel Aerospace Industries signed an agreement to establish a centre of excellence in aeronautics and artificial intelligence, the Israeli liaison office in Morocco announced.

The office said on Twitter that the agreement, signed on Tuesday, follows the partnership signed last November between the two parties.

خطوة جديدة تقوي الشراكة المغربية-الاسرائيلية! ✈️
وقعت جامعة الرباط الدولية و شركة الصناعات الجوية الإسرائيلية البارحة مذكرة تفاهم تهدف إلى إنشاء مركز امتياز في علم الطيران والذكاء الاصطناعي في الجامعة بالرباط.
و تأتي هذه الاتفاقية في أعقاب الشراكة الموقعة في نونبر الماضي بين… pic.twitter.com/fzXEdmor9k

— Bureau de Liaison d'Israël au Maroc (@IsraelinRabat) May 23, 2023

The university and Israeli company will cooperate in the field of applied research and innovation and the transfer of knowledge in the fields of aviation, according to the agreement. The centre will be established at the Rabat university.

In December 2020, Morocco normalised ties with Israel in a US-sponsored, controversial deal dubbed the Abraham Accords. The UAE, Bahrain and Sudan also agreed to normalise their ties with Israel.

Rabat joined the Abraham Accords in return for US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory. But Israel has decided not to engage in the territorial dispute that has caused a decades-long rift between Morocco and Algeria.

Since the accords were signed, Israeli-Moroccan military, security and economic cooperation have developed quickly.

Last week, the Moroccan parliament announced the formation of a "Moroccan-Israeli friendship" group.

The announcement came a few days after the visit of Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat to Morocco where he attended the agriculture festival in the city of Meknes, along with Tel Aviv's newly appointed envoy to Rabat Shai Cohen.

Most of the political parties in the country have switched to a normalisation-friendly policy since, but Moroccans have carried out several protests since calling for the normalisation deal to be scrapped and for greater support for the Palestinian cause.