http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?id=52278&mador=1&datee=7/25/99
Ha'aretz, July 25, 1999
Hassan allowed the Mossad to set up a
Morocco station
By Yossi Melman, Ha'aretz Correspondent
Hassan II, King of Morocco, was the second Arab leader,
after King Hussein of Jordan, to establish channels with
Israel.Initially the connection with the king centered on
emigration to Israel. After the sinking of the emigrant boat
"Egoz" in 1961, King Mohammed V, Hassan's father, agreed to
permit organized emigration to Israel by way of France. When
Hassan became king, he widened this agreement and appointed
his interior minister, General Ofkir, who also controlled
the security services, as his contact man with Israel.
According to foreign sources, Ofkir persuaded Hassan to
allow the Mossad to set up a permanent station in Morocco.In
return, claim these foreign publications, Israel provided
technical assistance, equipment and training for the
Moroccan security services, supplied information on
opposition to the regime and particularly on the intentions
of the then leader of Egypt, Abdul Nasser.
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, however, Morocco sent a
brigade to Syria as a symbol of identification with the Arab
struggle, and this ushered in a period of cool relations
between the Mossad, the Moroccan intelligence services and
the royal family. The connection was renewed after the war,
and Yitzhak Rabin became, in 1976, the first Prime Minister
of Israel to meet with the king. The meeting, held in
secret, was organized by the Mossad.
Rabin travelled to Morocco in disguise, wearing a wig to
escape identification. In his talks with the king in the
royal palace he discussed increasing the intelligence and
security cooperation between the two countries and
particularly the possibility of a peace agreement with Egypt
and Jordan. Two years later, when the leader of the Likud
Menachem Begin was elected Prime Minister, the diplomatic
contacts reached their peak. Yitzhak Hofi, head of the
Mossad and his deputy David Kimchi visited Morocco and met
with the king and his advisers who helped to set up a
meeting with Egypt's deputy Prime Minister, Hassan
Tohami.
Following that meeting Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan
visited Morocco, met with the king and with Tohami, and
paved the road to Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem and the
signing of the Camp David peace agreements. Since then King
Hassan has been one of the most active Arab leaders in
advancing the peace process. He hosted Shimon Peres in his
palace in 1986, and Yitzhak Rabin when he returned from
signing the Oslo accords in September 1993. The peace
process allowed the king to initiate a series of contacts
with the Moroccan Jewish community in Israel, many of whose
leaders visited Morocco. He allowed them to receive Moroccan
passports, to set up contacts between the small Jewish
community remaining in Morocco and their relations in Israel
and establish trade, tourism and agricultural links between
the two countries. In recent years diplomatic
representations have also been established in Rabat and Tel
Aviv
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