Western Sahara rebels say Israel's recognition of Morocco rule over area meaningless

Algeria-backed Polisario Front calls decision by Jerusalem ‘null and void,’ accuses Israel of trying to destabilize region

ALGIERS, Algeria — Israel’s decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara is meaningless, the Algeria-backed Polisario movement said on Wednesday.

“Such a position emanating from the Zionist entity or any other party to legitimize the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara is null and void,” the “Sahrawi Ministry of Information” said in a statement.

On Monday, the royal cabinet in Rabat said Israel had decided to “recognize Morocco’s sovereignty” over the mineral-rich desert region, citing a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel confirmed the contents of the statement from Morocco.

In a statement quoted by Algeria’s official APS news agency on Wednesday, the Polisario said the development would “only reinforce the determination of the Sahrawi people to pursue their national struggle on several fronts.”

It denounced “subversive joint security and military maneuvers aimed at destabilizing the North African region and the Sahel in general.”

Israeli recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory was “a non-event,” the Polisario added.

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 Polisario which seeks the territory’s independence.

Rabat controls nearly 80 percent of Western Sahara and sees the entire region, home to abundant phosphates and fisheries, as its sovereign territory.

Wednesday’s Polisario statement said the Israeli move “confirms the alliance of a state and an entity which occupy, both militarily, Western Sahara and Palestine.”

The Polisario continues to demand a UN-supervised self-determination referendum, which was agreed in a 1991 ceasefire accord but has still not taken place.

Algeria and Morocco have had no diplomatic ties since 2021, after months of tensions, and after Morocco normalized relations with Israel as part of a series of US-backed deals with Arab states known as the Abraham Accords.