Israel recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, following the lead of the United States in doing so. Western Sahara had been under Moroccan control since 1975, when Spanish colonial rule ceased. The future of the area had been under dispute with Algeria. The U.S. and Israeli recognition of Moroccan rule over Western Sahara was rejected by the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union, but a dozen Arab and Muslim states accepted Morocco’s claim. As in the cases of Bahrain, the UAE and Sudan, which like Morocco had recognized Israel since 2020 under the expanded Abraham Accords, common motivations to do so melded together: definitive enhancement of individual Arab state interests with substantive provision of a particular U.S. diplomatic embrace, along with American aid.
