JERUSALEM, Israel
Israel has recognized Moroccan
sovereignty over Western Sahara, making it only the second country after the
United States to acknowledge the kingdom's annexation of the disputed North
African territory.Morocco's King Mohammed VI (Courtesy)
The announcement Monday came
shortly after Morocco's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying King
Mohammed VI had received a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
recognizing Morocco’s claim over the territory. Netanyahu's office later
confirmed the announcement.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli
Cohen said recognition of Western Sahara as Moroccan territory “will strengthen
relations between the countries and the nations” and advance regional
stability.
Israel and Morocco
reestablished diplomatic relations as part of the “Abraham Accords” brokered by
former President Donald Trump between Israel and Arab states. The two countries
had low-level diplomatic ties in the 1990s that were disrupted by the
Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.
In exchange for Morocco
normalizing relations with Israel, the Trump administration promised in
December 2020 to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
The announcement upset decades
of U.S. policy and international consensus that Western Sahara’s status should
be settled by a U.N. referendum.
Morocco annexed Western
Sahara, a former Spanish colony believed to have considerable offshore oil
deposits and mineral resources, in 1975, sparking a conflict with the
pro-independence Polisario Front.
The U.N. brokered a 1991
cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help
prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is
eligible to vote have prevented that vote from taking place.
The Polisario Front renewed
armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce.
Mounting tensions have
reverberated across borders to Morocco’s neighbor Algeria, which broke
diplomatic ties with Rabat in 2021. The enmity has escalated between the two
nations, which both share allies in the West, the Middle East and elsewhere.
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