Israel Apologizes After Netanyahu Displays Map of Morocco Without Western Sahara

By Yoni Weiss

The Foreign Ministry issued an apology early Friday morning following an uproar in Moroccan media over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s use of a map during a recent interview that did not depict Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

The controversy erupted after Netanyahu appeared on France’s LCI channel on Thursday evening, holding a map of Morocco that excluded the Western Sahara territory. This contradicted Israel’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the region just over a year ago in a letter from Netanyahu himself to King Mohammed VI.

The Moroccan website Hiba Press accused Netanyahu of “once again provoking the Moroccans” with the “truncated map, without [Western] Sahara,” as he discussed the Middle East situation and the Gaza war. Another popular news outlet claimed Netanyahu looked angry while holding a map that did not include Morocco’s “southern regions.”

Social media users in Morocco condemned the Israeli leader’s conduct, stating Morocco does not need recognition of its claims from the “occupying entity.”

Responding to the outcry, the Foreign Ministry’s Arabic spokesperson Hassan Kaabia apologized on social media for the map depiction, calling it an “unintentional mistake” and “technical error.” Kaabia conveyed a message directly to King Mohammed VI, stating he wished to clarify the situation and apologize for the mistake. He reaffirmed the close relationship between Israel and Morocco, emphasizing that Israel stands firmly by its previous recognition of Western Sahara as rightfully part of Moroccan territory.

The decades-old Western Sahara conflict pits Morocco, which controls most of the territory and offers autonomy under its sovereignty, against the Polisario Front demanding an independence referendum for the local Sahrawi population.

In 2020, the Trump administration broke with past US neutrality by recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty claim as part of normalizing ties between Israel and Morocco. Israel officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty in 2022.