Israel reaffirms support for Morocco's sovereignty over disputed Western Sahara territory

Tel Aviv reaffirmed its support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, Gideon Saar, Israel's justice minister and deputy prime minister, announced on Wednesday.

Following a meeting with Morocco's foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, Saar told the reporters that his visit to Rabat "was an occasion to express to different Moroccan officials he met Israel's support for Morocco's position on the Sahara issue."

Saar arrived in Morocco on Monday for a four-day visit and met senior Moroccan officials, including Bourita and Abdellatif Hammouchi, head of Moroccan police and domestic intelligence.

Saar also met his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Ouahbi, a former anti-normalisation politician who once advocated for criminalising "normalisation acts" in 2013, and signed a deal on Tuesday to promote cooperation between their justice departments.

In parallel to Saar's visit, Israel's regional cooperation minister, Esawi Frej, held talks in Tangiers with Moroccan culture minister Mohamed Bensaid to discuss cooperation.

Late in 2020, Washington recognised Rabat's sovereignty over the disputed territory in exchange for the Moroccan kingdom's normalisation with Israel.

Despite playing a vital role in convincing Rabat to publicly establish ties with Tel Aviv, the Israeli state has mainly beregarding regard to the dispute until this past March.

During the Negev Summit in March, Yair Lapid, Israel's foreign minister at the time, said that Tel Aviv backs Morocco's autonomy plan in the disputed territory. He has also condemned "attempts to weaken the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco."

In June, Ayelet Shaked, Israel's interior minister, stressed Lapid's words, adding that "Israel reaffirms its support for Morocco's sovereignty over the [Western] Sahara."

Saar's new statements reasserts the notion that Tel Aviv is no longer neutral. 

In the past few years, Moroccan diplomacy focused on pressuring countries worldwide to support its position on the decades-long conflict over Western Sahara.

Most Arab countries and a few African states openly are with Rabat against the separatist front of Polisario, who advocate for independence in the territory for the Sahraoui residents. 

Lately, Rabat has been seeking more Western support to legitimise its control over Western Sahara.

Despite the diplomatic pressure, Germany and Spain abided only in supporting Morocco’s "autonomy plan" in the territory, while also asserted their support with the Sahraoui people.

The US became the only Western country to support Rabat's total sovereignty over the territor in December 2020, and Trump's administration promised to open a US embassy will be inauguratd in Dakhla, Western Sahara. However, the Biden administration has so far abandoned the opening. 

The UN formally recognises neither Moroccan nor Polisario Front sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

In 1991, the UN established a peacekeeping mission to monitor a ceasefire and organise a referendum on the territory's status. 

The vote was set for 1992 but was suspended when Morocco refused to accept any vote that allowed for the territory's independence, saying that only "autonomy" was on the table.

Since then, numerous UN-sponsored talks have failed to make a breakthrough, with each side further entrenching its positions.