Netanyahu’s Sahara Map Gaffe Strains Morocco-Israel Relations

"Although Netanyahu’s provocation towards the Moroccans with the ’map’ may be unintentional, it comes at a time when some observers report a ’collapse’ of normalization between Morocco and Israel, since October 7 last, marking the beginning of a new war between the Hebrew state and the Palestinian movement Hamas," analyzes Le Monde. For the French newspaper, there is indeed a "collapse of normalization" between Morocco and Israel. To support its argument, it notes that parliamentary diplomacy between the two countries has reached an "impasse". The publication also mentions the suspension of government meetings, as well as direct flights between the two countries. As for trade, it continues between Morocco and Israel, but this time "without publicity", as well as military cooperation, which is the heart of the rapprochement between Rabat and Tel Aviv, we are told.

Questioned about the "ultimate goal" of Israel in Gaza, during an interview broadcast on the LCI channel, Benjamin Netanyahu supported his argument by showing a map of Morocco amputated from the Sahara, provoking the anger of the Moroccan people. His office tried to nip the controversy in the bud. "The Israeli government recognizes the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over all its territories and all official maps in the Prime Minister’s office have been corrected accordingly," it specified in a post on X (formerly Twitter), admitting "a regrettable error". The spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Kaabia, also apologized profusely for this "unintentional error". "Due to an unintentional error, a major media controversy erupted concerning the map used by Benjamin Netanyahu, which showed Morocco without its Sahara," he explained.

Also, he was keen to clarify to King Mohammed VI, as well as to his beloved people and his government that "Morocco is in its Sahara until God inherits the Earth." And to reassure: "Israel will not go back on its historic recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara."