Israeli soldiers will participate for the first time in international exercises in Morocco

2023-06-06 14:51:37

MADRID, 6 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Starting this Tuesday, a group of Israeli soldiers will actively participate in international maneuvers in Moroccan territory, which is the first time they have joined these exercises, amid the rapprochement between the two countries in recent years.

“A delegation of twelve soldiers and commanders of the Golani unit traveled on Sunday for the ‘African Lion 2023’ maneuvers taking place in Morocco,” the Israeli army said in a statement posted on its website.

“This is the first time that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have participated in the ‘African Lion’ maneuvers,” he said, before stressing that 18 countries are participating in them, with a deployment of more than 8,000 soldiers. “The objective of strengthening the relationship between countries and mutual learning between foreign armies,” she argued.

Thus, he has emphasized that “during the next two weeks, the soldiers of the Golani unit will focus on practicing combat exercises that combine urban warfare and underground warfare, in which they will specialize before concluding the training with a joint exercise of all armies.”

The Golani unit is an elite infantry unit routinely deployed in the West Bank. In this way, it is the first active participation of Israel, which was already present last year at the level of military observers, without deploying soldiers on the ground.

The maneuvers mainly involve Moroccan and US forces and take place in the Moroccan region between May and June 18, according to the dates released by the US Armed Forces Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The agreement between Israel and Morocco to normalize relations was reached in December 2020, shortly after the Israeli government signed a similar pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, within the framework of the ‘Abraham Accords’. Subsequently, Sudan joined them, although it has not ratified them.