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Israel And Morocco To Normalise Relations

  • 11 Dec 2020

  • Israel and Morocco agreed on 10th December 2020 to normalise relations in a deal brokered by the United States.
  • Morocco is the fourth Arab country since August 2020 to strike a deal aimed at normalising relations with Israel after the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan.
  • The disputed territory of Western Sahara was central to a deal establishing diplomatic ties between Morocco and Israel.
  • As part of the agreement, the United States agreed to recognise Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, where there has been a decades-old territorial dispute with Morocco pitted against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state (Sahrawi) in the territory.

Some Background on the Region

Western Sahara

  • Western Sahara is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. Western Sahara stretches along Africa’s Atlantic coast south of the Moroccan resort city of Agadir, and borders Algeria and Mauritania.
  • About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, while the remaining 80% of the territory is occupied and administered by neighboring Morocco.
  • The area was colonized by Spain in the 19th century and Morocco annexed it in 1975. The pro-independence Polisario Front, representing the local Sahrawi population and backed by Algeria, fought Moroccan forces for years for control of the territory.
  • Some countries recognize Western Sahara as independent, some others support Morocco’s claims on the land, while others back a long-running UN effort to seek a negotiated solution.

Peace Efforts

  • The territory is home to one of the UN’s longest-running peace-keeping forces, in place since 1991 to monitor a cease-fire and help prepare for a referendum on the territory’s future — which has never taken place.
  • Morocco has proposed wide-ranging autonomy for Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front says the local population has the right to a referendum.