Morocco and Israel restore diplomatic ties

WASHINGTON－Israel and Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations as US President Donald Trump said the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory.

"Our two great friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations－a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!" Trump tweeted on Thursday.

As part of the deal, Trump announced that the US recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory in a major policy shift.

The agreement adds to Trump's Middle East legacy just as Democrat Joe Biden prepares to assume the presidency in January with an eye toward revamping Washington's policies in the region, from Israel to Iran, Iraq and beyond.

With Israel, Biden has pledged to return to a more traditional position, particularly regarding the Palestinians' aspirations for statehood.

The Democrat has indicated that he will continue the pursuit of what Trump calls "the Abraham Accords" between Israel and Arab and Muslim nations.

For Morocco, it's a major achievement, too, with US recognition of its claim to Western Sahara, something not recognized by the United Nations and the subject of an international dispute for decades.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said his position on the issue of Western Sahara remains unchanged, according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"He remains convinced that a solution to the question of Western Sahara is possible, and that's in accordance with relevant Security Council Resolutions 2440, 2548, to name two," Dujarric said.

The deal is also a setback for the Palestinians, who have complained about pro-Israel steps from Trump.

Trump has sidelined the Palestinian Authority, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv, slashed assistance for the Palestinians and reversed course on the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

The White House said Trump and Moroccan King Mohammed VI had a phone conversation, in which Trump "reaffirmed his support for Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory and as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory".

Mohammed VI, for his part, "agreed to resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability", the White House said.

Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner told reporters that the two sides would open liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv and begin direct flights.

Fourth Arab state

Morocco is the fourth Arab state that has recognized Israel in recent months after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

All these countries are geographically far removed from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, making it easier to strike deals with Israel and the US for their own particular interests.

Morocco and Israel had respectively maintained liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat in the 1990s, before closing them in 2000.

Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania at the end of Spain's colonial rule in 1976. When Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979, Morocco moved to occupy that sector and has since asserted administrative control over the whole territory.

Fighting broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara.

The Polisario denounced the US move, saying it was a violation of international law.

A cease-fire was signed in 1991. A UN mission in Western Sahara was deployed that year to monitor the truce and to organize, if possible, a referendum on self-determination of the people in Western Sahara.

Xinhua - Agencies