As the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip continues for the 43rd day in a row, and the succession of international outrage rejecting the Hebrew state’s attacks, worries mount about the future of the Abraham Accords, including with Morocco.
American “World Politics Review” (WPR) magazine expects that the continuation of the Israeli attacks will have a profound impact on Rabat-Tel Aviv relations, weakening ties between the two countries, which could potentially lead to freezing or retreating from normalization.
Moroccan-Israeli relations are now facing a major challenge, due to the fact that the majority of Moroccan citizens support the Palestinian cause, said the publication, noting that “Rabat’s involvement in the Abraham Accords and the normalization of its diplomatic relations with Israel, in exchange for Washington’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over its desert, was important to Moroccan authorities.”
“An initiative worth the risk, as the Kingdom has made consolidating its sovereignty over its southern provinces a major goal of its foreign policy,” notes the WPR.
The American magazine highlights that “recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara has become ingrained in the messages and speeches of the Moroccan state, as foreign diplomats have become accustomed to receiving strongly worded reprimands from Moroccan officials any time they adopt the slightest reservation about the territorial integrity of the Kingdom,” explaining that “ Morocco’s choices regarding the Sahara issue and its relations with Israel, until October 7, were unquestionable.”
A number of transformations occurred in Moroccan-Israeli relations from the end of 2020 until the beginning of last October, as the two countries exchanged visits at the highest levels, leading to Tel Aviv’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, which then opened the way to the possibility of an official Netanyahu visit to Rabat, said WPR.
“In the current context, and given the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza, normalization between the two countries appears to be frozen and the matter may even go so far as to be retracted and annulled.”
WPR magazine pointed out that “Moroccan authorities allowed the organization of protests and demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine, where the demonstrators’ feet stepped on Israeli and American flags, and chanted slogans against normalization with Tel Aviv.”
“The conflict will end soon, as it seems that Morocco is counting on the end of Netanyahu’s political career with the end of the war, reaffirming the reality of historical ties with the Moroccan community in Israel, in a way that goes beyond the policies of the current Israeli government,” expects WPR.
“For Morocco, everything depends on how long the Israeli attack will last,” says the report, adding: “It is unlikely that the current crisis will end Moroccan-Israeli normalization; However, only if the war is short, but if the attacks continue for months with a rising number of civilian casualties, this will put the Moroccan state in a critical position that may affect normalization, and may even lead to its retreat.”