While the world’s attention was fixed on the holiday lull, a profound and irreversible shift in the balance of power occurred on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It was a tale of two capitals moving in opposite directions through time. In Algiers, lawmakers stood in a heated parliamentary session to unanimously pass a law criminalizing the history of French colonialism—a legislative obsession with the grievances of the 19th century. Meanwhile, across the closed border in Morocco, satellite sensors picked up a very different signal: the electronic signature of the Barak MX air defense system coming online.
The two hegemons of the Maghreb declared their future trajectories. Algiers is building a fortress of historical grievance, locking itself into the past. Rabat is building the “Iron Dome of the Desert,” locking its airspace with the most advanced military technology in the Middle East.
The arms race in North Africa is effectively over. Morocco has won the technological war, and the Abraham Accords have graduated from a diplomatic piece of paper to a wall of steel on the Atlantic.
The Shield: Activating the Barak MX
The confirmation that Morocco has activated the Israeli-made Barak MX system represents a quantum leap in regional security. This is not merely an arms purchase; it is a change in the physics of the battlefield. The Barak MX is a modular air defense system capable of intercepting missiles and drones at ranges of up to 150 kilometers.
For years, the Algerian military has relied on its massive stockpile of Russian hardware—S-300s and Sukhoi aircraft—to project intimidation across the border. The activation of the Barak MX neutralizes this Russian-supplied advantage. It provides the Kingdom with a multi-layered shield capable of engaging the very threats that external actors are introducing to the region, specifically the loitering munitions and ballistic missiles that have become the hallmark of modern proxy warfare.
This delivery comes at a critical moment. With intelligence reports indicating the transfer of asymmetric terror tactics and drone technology to separatist groups like the Polisario Front, Morocco’s acquisition of a top-tier interceptor system is not a luxury; it is an existential necessity. The activation of this system sends a clear message to any aggressor: the skies over the Western Sahara are no longer a permissive environment for proxy terror.
The Sword: “Made in Morocco” Drones
But defense is only half the equation. The strategic checkmate delivered is not just about what Morocco bought, but what it is now building. Recent reports have confirmed the inauguration of the BlueBird Aero Systems drone factory in Benslimane. This facility is the first Israeli defense manufacturing plant in North Africa.
Morocco is no longer just a client of Israeli technology; it is a producer. The facility is set to manufacture the SpyX, a “kamikaze” loitering munition with a range of 50 kilometers. While Algeria continues to import finished goods from Moscow, draining its foreign reserves to prop up the Russian war machine, Morocco is importing the means of production from Tel Aviv. This creates a sovereign defense industry that integrates Moroccan technicians into the Israeli supply chain.
The “Revolutionary” Distraction
While Moroccan engineers were bringing Israeli missile defense systems online, Algerian lawmakers were unanimously voting to criminalize the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962.The new law demands apologies and reparations, framing the state’s legitimacy entirely around historical victimization.
This “Juridical Iron Curtain” is a desperate move by a regime that has run out of future-oriented ideas. By picking a fight with France—its largest trading partner and home to a massive diaspora—Algiers is isolating itself diplomatically at the exact moment it is being outpaced militarily. The regime offers its people the catharsis of historical anger; the Kingdom offers its people the security of 21st-century deterrence.
The Abraham Accords at Five: Steel on the Ground
The Abraham Accords are now the operational security architecture of North Africa. They are the reason Israeli Barak missiles are guarding the Strait of Gibraltar. They are the reason Israeli drone factories are rising in the Moroccan interior. This alliance has proven resilient against the headwinds of regional conflict and the pressure of the street. It has transformed into a strategic axis that binds the security of the Mediterranean to the security of the Middle East.
Doubling Down on the Winner
The United States must recognize that neutrality in North Africa is a strategic error. Morocco is an ally that integrates Western technology, welcomes Israeli industry, and serves as a net security provider. There is another actor that criminalizes relations with the West, hosts hostile proxies, and serves as a logistics hub for Russian influence.
The activation of the Barak MX system is a vindication of the policy that prioritized the Morocco-Israel-US triad. American policymakers should view this not just as a Moroccan success, but as a blueprint for the continent. The “Iron Dome of the Desert” is now active. It is time for the United States to fully back the only shield protecting Africa’s Atlantic flank from the encroaching storm of instability. The military of 2030 has arrived in Rabat; the rest of the region is still fighting the ghosts of 1960.
Published originally on December 28, 2025.
