Israel recalled Friday that it recognized “the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara”, the day after an interview on French television during which Benjamin Netanyahu used a map showing this disputed territory clearly separated from the Cherifian kingdom.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel officially recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2023,” said an official statement, issued in Arabic.
In an interview broadcast Thursday by the LCI channel, Mr. Netanyahu held up a map and declared, according to his words translated into French by the channel: “Look at the map here of the Arab world in green, Israel is this little red dot” .
On the map, Morocco appears in green like the other Arab countries, and Western Sahara in white.
Morocco and Israel normalized their relations in December 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords, a diplomatic process between Israel and several Arab countries, supported by the United States.
In return, Rabat had obtained recognition from Washington and Israel of “Moroccan sovereignty” over Western Sahara.
The statement released by Mr. Netanyahu’s office explains that the map shown on the screen during the interview was an “old map” and assures that “Israel’s policy remains… unchanged” regarding the recognition of “the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara”.
The card brandished by Mr. Netanyahu sparked strong reactions among Moroccan Internet users. “Definitely the Abraham Accords were one-sided,” commented one on X.
“The Moroccanness of the Sahara does not need the support of the colonizing and murderous entity,” wrote another on Facebook.
In the media, the Hespress news site described Mr. Netanyahu’s gesture as “provocation” while quoting one of his advisers who argued it was a “mistake.”
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is controlled mainly by Morocco – which is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty – but claimed by the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria. It is considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, several large-scale demonstrations have taken place in Morocco to demand an end to normalization, while opposition to this process was until then limited.
Rabat denounced the extent of Israeli retaliation against Hamas, without calling into question the normalization process between the two countries.