In this photo from Jan. 14, 2023, displaced Sahrawis gather at the refugee camp of Dakhla, which lies some 170km to the southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf. The Polisario movement, which seeks independence in disputed Western Sahara, started meeting on January 13 for leadership elections in the shadow of mounting tensions between host Algeria and Morocco, which controls most of the territory. More than 2,200 members of the movement and 370 foreign guests are attending the five-day congress deep in Algeria's desert, at a Sahrawi refugee camp named after Dakhla, an Atlantic port city in what is Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. (RYAD KRAMDI/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — Morocco said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs its claim to the disputed coastal territory of Western Sahara, a move that may help enhance relations following the U.S.-brokered restoration of ties three years ago.
The announcement by King Mohammed VI’s cabinet in Morocco — reported by state news agency MAP on Monday — also suggested Israel views “positively” the opening of a consulate in the Western Saharan city of Dakhla.
Israel confirmed the details in the announcement, according to Netanyahu’s office.
The endorsement has the potential to help boost diplomacy brokered in 2020 by the administration of then U.S. President Donald Trump, part of the co-called Abraham Accords that also included the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The Morocco-Israel side of those deals had looked vulnerable after the former delayed an annual meeting of regional foreign ministers to protest against Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Morocco has been embroiled in a low-key military confrontation in Western Sahara with the Algeria-based Polisario Front, a group of indigenous Sahrawis who have been seeking independence in the former Spanish colony since Morocco’s annexation in 1975.
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