Morocco, Israel Sign Legal Deal to Strengthen Cooperation

Rabat – Morocco and Israel seek to further promote bilateral cooperation by boosting their collaboration to fight against crimes, terrorism, and human trafficking.

Morocco’s Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the legal field in both countries and define a practical framework for their future joint activities.

The cooperation in the legal field is the first of its kind between the two countries since they resumed diplomatic ties in December 2020.

Both ministers spoke of the importance of exchanging experiences and good practices in judicial administration while identifying areas of collaboration based on mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit.

Under this agreement, Morocco and Israel also intend to build on mutual understanding of their legal systems to increase bilateral liaison, particularly in terms of adjusting national legislation with international standards as well as with international legal assistance in civil and criminal matters.

Ouahbi affirmed that this agreement aims to reinforce working meetings between experts and delegations from the two countries, noting that the achievement of justice and respect for the law requires the exchange of experiences and good practices in this field.

The Israeli minister Sa’ar stressed that the agreement allows the two sides to exchange knowledge and experience in the modernization and digital transformation of judicial procedures.

The partnership includes coordination in the field of counter-terrorism and extremism and the fight against organised crime, human trafficking, developing skills and strengthening long-term relationships, Sa’ar argued.

Israel and Morocco have signed a series of similar bilateral agreements since they re-established diplomatic ties in late 2020. The two countries have repeatedly pledged to deepen their cooperation in a wide range of fields, including defense and security, the economy, industry, technology, culture, and sport.

Last week, Aviv Kohavi, the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), visited Morocco last week to discuss consolidating the strategic and military alliance between the two countries.