Netanyahu’s office reiterates Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara after map snafu
PMO issues statement after Netanyahu presented map showing disputed region as separate from Morocco during interview with French channel
Israel reiterated on Friday its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu produced a map showing the territory as independent during an interview.
Netanyahu pointed at a map of the Middle East and North Africa as he discussed regional threats to Israel amid its ongoing war against Iran-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza, during a recorded interview with French news channel LCI that aired Thursday.
“Look at the map of the Arab world in green” surrounding Israel, Netanyahu said while pointing at the map, which showed the Western Sahara as a separate territory from Morocco.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in Arabic on Friday saying that under his leadership “Israel officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2023.”
“Israel’s policy remains steadfast and unchanged,” it said.
Israel recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the mineral-rich region in July 2023 in a letter from Netanyahu to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, following US-brokered normalization in 2020.
Morocco stated that it normalized diplomatic relations with Israel to gain recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Yesterday, Netanyahu presented a map that still shows Western Sahara as NOT part of Morocco.
The normalization was free. pic.twitter.com/Op3FhrsRc1
— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) May 31, 2024
The United States has also recognized the territory as a part of the North African kingdom in return for Rabat establishing ties with Israel.
The Western Sahara dispute dates back to 1975, when colonial ruler Spain withdrew from the territory, sparking a 15-year war between Morocco and the separatist Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
Rabat controls nearly 80 percent of Western Sahara and sees the entire region, home to abundant phosphates and fisheries, as its sovereign territory.
Morocco and Israel normalized relations in December 2020 as part of a series of similar US-backed deals with Arab states known as the Abraham Accords.
