After Morocco announced that it would establish diplomatic relations with Israel as soon as possible, the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Nasser Britta, said on the 13th that Morocco had never stopped in the past and that the current stage would need to resume to its previous relations after consultation.
Analysts believe that the United States recognizes Morocco’s “sovereignty over Western Sahara” as a way to promote the normalization of Moroccan-Israeli relations. This is part of the Trump administration’s plan to promote the detente of relations between Arab countries and Israel, serving the strategic goal of the United States to support Israel and contain Iran.
Involving the status of Western Sahara
U.S. President Trump announced on social media on the 10th that Morocco and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. The White House subsequently said in a statement that the United States supported Morocco’s proposal to resolve the question of Western Sahara and “recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara”.
Later on the 10th, the King’s Office of Morocco issued a communiqué saying that Morocco would resume official contact with Israel and establish diplomatic relations with Israel as soon as possible.
The communiqué said that Morocco and Israel will reopen the liaison office, and Morocco will also establish direct flights with Israel. Britta said in an interview with the media on the 13th that Morocco and Israel have a “unique relationship” and the two sides will resume their previous relationship through negotiations.
The Trump administration has been working to broker the normalization of Israel’s relations with Arab countries, and the question of Western Sahara is an important concern for Morocco.
Western Sahara was a Spanish colony in history. In 1975, Spain announced its withdrawal from Western Sahara and signed partition agreements with Morocco and Mauritania respectively.
The Algerian-backed People’s Liberation Front for Western Sahara subsequently made territorial claims to Western Sahara, and the three parties have had many armed conflicts for this. In 1979, Mauritania renounced its territorial claim to Western Sahara, and the armed conflict between Morocco and the People’s Liberation Front for Western Sahara continued until 1991.
In 1991, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to establish MINURSO to supervise the ceasefire and, where possible, organize a referendum in Western Sahara to determine its final status. At present, Morocco actually controls most of Western Sahara.
It may aggravate the geogame.
After the United States announced its recognition of Morocco’s “sovereignty over Western Sahara”, the spokesman of the United Nations Secretary-General Dijaric said that the position of the United Nations on the question of Western Sahara has not changed and that “a solution can only be found according to the United Nations resolution”.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Pogdanov told the media on the 11th that Washington’s statement on the sovereignty of Western Sahara violated international law. He said that everything the United States has done now is a unilateral decision, going beyond international law and the United Nations Security Council resolutions voted in favor of the United States.
Zhang Yuyou, a lecturer at the Middle East Institute of Northwestern University, pointed out that the Trump administration’s move is similar to the previous treatment of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. It uses “recognition diplomacy” that not only meets the interests of one side but also harms the interests of other countries, and may further exacerbate the geopolitical game in North Africa. .
Some analysts believe that the normalization of Mosian-Israeli relations is part of the Trump administration’s plan to promote the de-escalation of Arab-Israel relations, serving the strategic goal of the United States to support Israel and contain Iran, and will also aggravate the hostile relations between some Arab countries and Iran. This may also bring more uncertainty to security in the Middle East.
