Morocco king invites Netanyahu after Western Sahara move

By AFP

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has invited Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit, a message of thanks issued Wednesday said, after Israel decided to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco and Israel normalised relations in December 2020 as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords with some Arab states.

Israeli-Moroccan cooperation in security, trade and tourism has since grown, and on Monday the royal office in Rabat cited a letter from Netanyahu that said Israel would recognise Moroccan sovereignty over the mineral-rich desert region.

"You are welcome to make a visit to Morocco, on dates at our mutual best convenience, to be defined through diplomatic channels," Mohammed VI wrote in his message.

The meeting "will permit the opening of new possibilities in bilateral relations between Morocco and Israel", the king said.

He hailed Israel's decision and called the question of Western Sahara "the national cause of the kingdom and the priority of its foreign policy".

The Western Sahara dispute dates back to 1975, when colonial ruler Spain withdrew from the territory, sparking a 15-year war between Morocco and the Polisario Front movement seeking independence in the territory.

Rabat controls nearly 80 percent of Western Sahara and sees the entire region, home to abundant phosphates and fisheries, as its sovereign territory.

Rabat advocates for limited autonomy for the vast desert territory while the Algeria-backed Polisario seeks independence. The group continues to demand a UN-supervised self-determination referendum, which was agreed in a 1991 ceasefire accord but has still not taken place.