Six days before the general elections in Spain, the cabinet of the Royal Palace of Morocco publishes a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to King Mohamed VI in which he unilaterally recognizes, outside the United Nations, full sovereignty of Morocco on the Western Sahara. The letter announces the imminent opening of an Israeli consulate in Dakhla, the former Villa Cisneros from the Spanish colonial period, located 550 kilometers south of Al-Aaiun.
Urbi et orbi message: Morocco does not shy away and can count on a powerful strategic ally in the military field, in the midst of a rearmament race with Algeria. Israeli tourists, economic investments in key sectors, coordination of military intelligence, latest generation drones and Pegasus software to listen to conversations of interest.
And Israel finally gives the gift of the old Spanish colony, in exchange for full diplomatic relations with Israel that contribute to changing the alliances in the Middle East to the detriment of Iran.
We are talking about Israel’s approach to the Sunnis. The so-called Abraham Agreements initiated with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Morocco brings a very special ceramic to this mosaic: 8% of Israel’s population are Jews of Moroccan origin. There has always been a very influential Jewish community in Morocco, especially established in the city of Casablanca.
The method that has been followed this time is the same with which the famous letter from Pedro Sánchez to Mohamed VI was made known, dated March 14, 2022. First the Royal Palace of Rabat informs, then comes the confirmation of the sender .
The procedure is the same, but the content is different. The Government of Spain did not unilaterally recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara outside the United Nations. The Biden Administration has not taken that step either, despite Trump’s gesture. The United States has not opened a consulate in Western Sahara, despite Rabat’s claims.
What Sánchez did was to emphatically express his agreement with the Moroccan proposal to the United Nations, in 2007, for the Western Sahara to become an autonomous region, under international supervision. “It is the most serious, credible and realistic proposal,” the letter said. And, indeed, it represented a change in the Spanish position.
What Morocco is doing now is putting the Israeli card on the table, blessed by Trump, that it could return. They shield the alliance with Israel six days before the Spanish elections. Message on Génova Street. And in Algeria, of course.
