Israel joins Morocco defence expo for first time: ministry

Israel's defence ministry said Thursday that it had opened a national pavilion and led an Israeli delegation at Marrakesh Airshow 2026, calling it the country's first official participation at a defence exhibition in Morocco.

The ministry said the appearance marked Israel's first official participation in a Moroccan defence exhibition since the signing of the Abraham Accords.

Israel and Morocco established ties in 2020 under the US-led Abraham Accords, in which several Arab states normalised relations with Israel. In September, Israel's foreign ministry said the two countries had agreed to open respective embassies after a meeting between their top diplomats and the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

Israel's defence ministry said eight Israeli defence companies were exhibiting at the Marrakesh show, which runs until Saturday. It said Elbit Systems, IAI and Rafael were among the companies presenting systems across air, land, sea, space, intelligence, cyber and digital fields.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered in Rabat to protest normalisation and show support for Palestinians, on the third anniversary of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war.