(Middle East Eye) Sebastian Shehadi - "Secret" Israeli-Moroccan business is increasingly visible, though Morocco has no official relations with Israel. Data released by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics shows $37 million worth of commerce with Morocco in 2017. Israeli agricultural technology giant Netafim set up a $2.9 million subsidiary in Morocco last year. Much business is done indirectly, through companies in France, said Adel Abdel Ghafar, a fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. The French-Israeli Chamber of Commerce noted last year that "many Moroccan and Israeli companies are resorting to increasingly complex commercial channels." Commercial links in agriculture, the military and technology have existed for decades, Ghafar noted, as have cultural and people-to-people ties. "Morocco is one of the most progressive Arab countries with regards to its Jewish population." Moroccans are frequent participants at Israeli agricultural high-tech fairs, and thousands of Israeli tourists visit Morocco every year, said Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, an expert on Moroccan-Israeli relations at Tel Aviv University.
2018-11-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive