Israel reiterates recognition of Morocco sovereignty over Western Sahara, after Netanyahu contradiction

Israel has reiterated its recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displayed a map showing the two territories as separate from each other.

During an interview with French news channel LCI, which aired on Thursday, Israeli Premier Netanyahu pointed to a map of the Middle East and North Africa while discussing regional threats to Israel amid its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip. “Look at the map of the Arab world in green”, he said, with the map showing the Western Sahara region as a separate region from Morocco.

That display angered many in Morocco and the country’s media has since expressed outrage at the interview, as the map directly contradicts Israel’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara back in July 2023, when Netanyahu announced it to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in a letter.

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That decision came after Rabat and Tel Aviv normalised their relations in 2020 as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords, with it being the result of an agreement for Israeli and American recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the mineral-rich region in return for normalisation.

On Friday, Israel reiterated its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty, as Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in Arabic stressing that its recognition “was reflected, among other things, in the revision of the geographic map that hangs in the Prime Minister’s Office”.

It claimed, however, that “this correction was not made on an old map that was presented to the prime minister moments before the start of an interview on French television. Israel’s policy is unequivocal and has not changed – Israel recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty in the Western Sahara.”

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