Israel and Morocco share a vision for peace and stability for their people, the region and the world, Defense Minister Benny Gantz wrote in an opinion piece in the French-Moroccan magazine L'Observateur du Maroc and the Arabic newspaper Ahdath Maghrebia.
The opinion piece was published during Gantz's two-day official visit to the North African kingdom, where he signed a historic defense cooperation agreement with his Moroccan counterpart.
The former IDF chief of staff wrote how he had fought in dozens of military operations, but noted that the most important battle of all is to achieve peace and stability. And this, he explained, can only be achieved if Israel stays strong and strengthens its ties with its allies.
"Considering the recent positive developments, I am confident that we will work with our Moroccan friends, and with the leadership of our great ally the United States, to strengthen Israel’s relations with Jordan, Egypt, the members of the Abraham Accords [and] new partners in the region as well as with our Palestinian neighbors,” he wrote.
The defense agreement with Morocco, he further explained, acknowledges the shared vision of peace and stability for the region and world.
"Our partnership is vital against the challenges that threaten regional and global peace," he wrote. "Both our countries face the challenges of fundamentalist terrorism [and] border and aerial threats. The framework that we have determined in the MOU will provide us the means to cooperate in order to defend our nations."
Gantz also praised the economic cooperation between the two countries, which he said is beginning to bear fruit.
Morocco is the latest of the many countries to normalize ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, following the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Morocco in particular has a sizable Jewish community, and informal ties between Israelis and Moroccans have remained strong.