APA – Rabat (Morocco) – More than two and a half years after the Abraham Accords, Israel has officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, according to a press release issued by the Royal
Moroccan Cabinet on Monday July 17.
This recognition is part of the dynamic initiated by King Mohammed VI in recent years. “Thanks to his guidance and personal involvement, Morocco has made progress on this issue,” a senior Moroccan official
said.
This dynamic has been clearly demonstrated by the American recognition of the ‘Moroccanness’ of the Sahara, the support of more than 15 European countries for the Moroccan autonomy plan, and the opening of
some 30 consulates in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, he told APA.
According to him, this strong momentum of international support for the Moroccan position has been reinforced by Israel’s position, which is ‘clear, precise and very advanced.” This recognition is not only limited to Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, but also implies an adaptation of Israeli documents and acts concerning this position, which will be shared with the UN, regional and international organizations, as well as with the states with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations, the senior official added.
He also indicated that this position would be accompanied by the opening of a consulate in Dakhla, stressing that this was “recognition with no strings attached.”
From an economic point of view, this decision will have significant economic repercussions, as Israeli investors will henceforth consider the southern provinces as any other region of the Kingdom, he estimated.
Moreover, Israel’s recognition of the Moroccan character of the Sahara is “the result of bilateral relations in all sectors since the establishment of relations between the two countries in December 2020,” he said, noting that this dynamic between the two countries “is in no way linked to Morocco’s position of principle vis-à-vis the
Palestinian question.”
“The King has repeatedly stressed that the Palestinian question has been elevated to the rank of a national cause,” the senior official recalled. Morocco, through its Monarch and Bayt Mal Al Quds, is mobilized in favor of the Palestinian cause within the framework of the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state and an Israeli state
living side by side,” he concluded.
HA/fss/abj/APA