However, under the reign of later King, Hassan II, it was characterized as controversial due to Hassan II's closeness with Israel. Hassan II was found to have invited
Mossad and
Shin Bet agents in the
Arab League meeting held in
Casablanca at 1965, and this was instrumental leading to the heavy military defeats of
Egypt,
Jordan and
Syria to the Israelis at
Six-Day War.
Prior to the war, king Hassan II had developed a reciprocal relationship with the Israeli intelligence, who had assisted him in carrying out an operation in France to abduct and 'disappear'
Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan dissident and left-wing opposition leader who had been based in Paris. The close relations between Israeli and Moroccan leaders have become a subject for many years even within Moroccan society.
At 1975, the outbreak of
Western Sahara War prompted Morocco to seek eventual and secret aids from Israeli intelligence, who had reorganized the
Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and was thought to have helped building the
Moroccan Western Sahara Wall, something neither Israel or Morocco acknowledged today. During 1980s, Hassan II attempted to break the deadlock to recognize Israel by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister
Shimon Peres in
Rabat at 1986, but was met with backlash and protests from the Arab League and Moroccans alike, forcing Hassan II to withdraw his attempt. Nonetheless, Hassan II maintained bond with Peres, and Peres voiced his condolence when Hassan II passed away at 1999.