Israel Backs Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara, Boosting Diplomatic Efforts

Morocco’s position on the Sahara was strengthened at the historic summit of Israel with several Arab countries and the United States, during which the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yahid Lapid, supported the Moroccan autonomy plan and assured that "Israel will fight any attempt to weaken the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco," reports The Economist.

The Sahara has been claimed for nearly half a century by Morocco on the one hand, and the Polisario Front supported by Algeria on the other, the British weekly recalls, noting that for a long time the international community has neglected this conflict by calling for a self-determination referendum. Today, the lines have moved with Spain’s decision to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara, considered the "most serious, realistic and credible" solution to the conflict.

To read: Morocco to Expand Diplomatic Presence in Israel, Signals Growing Ties

The newspaper also recalls the strong support of the United States, which under Trump recognized the Moroccanness of the Sahara, and of the EU, regretting that Morocco has obtained these results through "diplomatic tricks" (migration crises in Ceuta and Melilla and suspension of police cooperation with Spain, not to mention the exclusion of Spanish ports from the Marhaba Operation and its absence from the UN General Assembly that condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine).

However, Spain has not come to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, observes the British weekly, which also reports that pro-Sahrawi associations demonstrated on March 27 in Madrid against Spain’s change of position on the Sahara, which they consider a "betrayal".