Morocco has decided to buy 36 artillery units from Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit instead of renewing a contract for a similar product from France, a French newspaper reported on Saturday.
Elbit will supply Morocco’s defense ministry with 36 ATMOS 2000 155 mm/52 caliber self-propelled gun systems, according to the report in La Tribune. The decision to award Elbit the contract followed a series of technical failures with the 36 Caesar systems Morocco bought in 2022 from the government-owned KNDS France for about $200 million, according to the report.
The French-made cannons have not been made operational because of the failures, according to La Tribune. Instead of signing a second contract with KNDS France for more Caesars, Rabat decided to change course and opted for Elbit’s Atmos (Autonomous Truck Mounted howitzer System), according to the report.
Morocco joined the Abraham Accords agreements with Israel in 2020, and re-established open diplomatic and commercial ties with the Jewish state, which it had terminated during the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
Trade and other relations with Israel are a sensitive issue in many Arab and Muslim-majority countries, especially when it comes to weapons. Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon has triggered mass anti-Israel rallies and hostility in Morocco and beyond.
France is among several countries that have imposed weapons embargoes on Israel in connection with the war.
