The announcement of the establishment of relations between Morocco and Israel, under the auspices of the United States, stirred a wave of local and international reactions, amid expectations that US President Donald Trump would seek to organize a tripartite contact with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to outline the next steps.
Rabat said that reviving contacts with Tel Aviv was not a normalization, since relations were already in place until 2002. Morocco’s public opinion and political circles widely welcomed the US declaration of recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, which came in parallel with the announcement of establishing relations between Israel and the Northern African country.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on Friday that the recent development in relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv “is not normalization”, noting that his country had a liaison office until 2002.
In remarks to the Russian Sputnik agency, Bourita denied that the American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara came in exchange for restoring relations with Israel, stressing that relations between the two countries existed since the 1990s.
Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani, the secretary-general of the Justice and Development Party, told the Moroccan TV Channel 1 that the US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over all of its Sahara was a “great achievement”, noting that this step “will impact the course of the Moroccan Sahara file in the coming years, if not in the coming months.”
Othmani did not mention Morocco’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Observers noted that the Justice and Development Party, until Friday evening, has remained silent, while its official website only published the two royal statements issued on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, Paris welcomed on Friday the “resumption of diplomatic relations” between Israel and Morocco, saying that a “just and lasting solution” must be found to the Sahara conflict. A spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry was quoted by AFP as saying that the conflict in Western Sahara was lingering and represented a constant risk of tension.
The Polisario leadership said Friday that the American decision was “null and void”, adding that it was ready to continue the fight “until the withdrawal of the Moroccan occupying troops.”
Russia, for its part, condemned on Friday the US President’s decision to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, saying it contradicted international law. “This is a violation of international law,” Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying.
In Manama, the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, welcomed the United States’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara region and the opening of an American consulate in the city of Dakhla, describing it as an important historical step.
In Tehran, a senior Iranian official described Morocco’s normalization of relations with Israel as “treason.” Hossein Amirabdollahian, an advisor to the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said Friday that the normalization was “a betrayal and a stab in the back of Palestine.”
Meanwhile, the US is negotiating the sale of at least four sophisticated large aerial drones to Morocco, according to three US sources familiar with the negotiations quoted by Reuters.
In Tel Aviv, political sources confirmed that talks would start soon between Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco in order to sign a formal agreement to normalize relations. The sources said that the initial talks would be completed within one month and that relations would begin in February or March.
