It was in the utmost discretion that Morocco and Israel recently inaugurated a drone production factory located in the town of Benslimane, about fifty kilometers from Casablanca. This inauguration falls within the framework of defense treaties signed between the Moroccan regime and the Zionist entity, following the Abraham Accords concluded in December 2020.
Rabat and Tel Aviv have not breathed a word about this information, but it was reported by specialized military websites in the West. The Moroccan regime’s approach is certainly explained by the internal political situation, marked by Moroccan public opinion’s rejection of accelerated normalization, while the genocide in the Gaza Strip continues openly.
Moreover, recent demonstrations by youth and the unemployed in several cities of the Kingdom, protesting the economic and social crisis, have shaken the government and created a cold atmosphere among the population, all during the international sports competition, the Africa Cup of Nations.
This factory once again demonstrates the level achieved in cooperation in the field of advanced military industry between Israel and Morocco. A so-called strategic partnership that no country, member of the Arab League and having normalized relations with Tel Aviv, has concluded. Neither Egypt, nor Jordan, nor Bahrain—not even the Emirates—have pushed cooperation in armaments and intelligence this far.
What does this project consist of? According to information disseminated by The Defense Post, Rabat launched this factory to manufacture innovative drones, with assistance from BlueBird Aero Systems, which is none other than a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. BlueBird is responsible for producing the drones, particularly the SpyX, which plays a central role in long-duration surveillance as well as targeted strikes. In addition to SpyX drones, other tactical systems will be manufactured there, notably to strengthen the royal army’s reconnaissance, intelligence, and interception capabilities.
Other advanced intelligence technologies and equipment are planned in this factory’s production program. In addition to drones, it will implement Ofek 13 spy satellite technology, supplied by giants like Airbus and Thales. Already, Moroccan army officers are being trained at BlueBird’s headquarters in Israel to acquire expertise in this technological field.
For military experts, beyond the Benslimane factory, Morocco is expected to purchase armaments and industrial equipment to develop device assembly but above all to intensify training with the Zionist army. Rabat seeks, through this proliferation of military agreements with Israel, to produce total military integration with Tel Aviv, covering all sectors, hoping thereby to create regional influence, particularly in West Africa and the Sahel.
This Moroccan strategy was built following the 2021 visit of Benny Gantz, then Israeli Defense Minister, to Morocco, during which he directly threatened neighboring Algeria, creating unacceptable tension and hostility.
According to military experts, the inauguration of this factory has direct implications for the conflict in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco since 1975. Thus, tests of drones, particularly SpyX models, have been observed in the Smara region, a Sahrawi town not far from the borders with Algeria and Mauritania. It is moreover in this area that raids on civilian truck drivers and attacks on trucks transporting goods have occurred, causing several deaths and injuries, including Algerian drivers.
For the Israelis, the occupied Sahrawi territory has become a vast colonial laboratory for testing new weapons, particularly attack and surveillance drones, the SpyX models.
According to the 2025 report of the Sahrawi Bureau for Coordination of Anti-Mine Action, 123 drone attacks were recorded, causing the deaths of more than 160 people. Organizations like Who’s Profits have denounced this Zionist complicity in these bombings and attacks, while Aziz Hanaoui of the Moroccan Observatory Against Normalization has ceaselessly criticized this cooperation with Tel Aviv, which aims to strengthen the Moroccan army’s repressive capabilities against the Sahrawi population.