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The Israeli Foreign Ministry has apologized for using a map of Morocco that did not include the Sahara. On Friday morning, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Arabic spokesman, Hassan Kaabia, apologized for what he called an «unintentional mistake» following an interview with the Israeli Prime Minister on French television.
On Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in an interview on French television channels TF1 and LCI holding a map of the Arab world and Iran that excluded Western Sahara from Moroccan territory.
In a short statement shared on his Facebook and X accounts, Kaabia apologized for the situation, stressing that «due to an unintentional error, a lot of media hype was created regarding a map used by Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the map of Morocco is missing its Sahara».
بسبب خطأ غير مقصود تم إثارة ضجة إعلامية كبير بخصوص خارطة استعملها السيد بنيامين نتنياهو تظهر فيها خارطة المغرب مبتورة عن صحرائها
لهذا اقدم توضيح لجلالة الملك محمد السادس نصره الله و شعبه العزيز و حكومته الموقرة قائلا:"المغرب في صحرائه إلى ان يرث الله الأرض و ما عليها"
كما أننا…— Hassan Kaabia (@HassanKaabia) May 30, 2024
Therefore, «I offer a clarification to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, his beloved people and his esteemed government, saying: 'Morocco is in its Sahara until God inherits the earth and what is on it'», he added.
«We also apologize for this technical error», he continued, «Israel and Morocco are brothers and we will not withdraw our historic recognition of the Moroccan nature of the Sahara».
Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office also apologized, writing on X that «unfortunately there was an error in the map shown in the Prime Minister's interview with TF1». «All official maps in [Netanyahu's] office, including the one mistakenly shown in the interview, have been corrected accordingly», it added.
الحكومة الإسرائيلية برئاسة رئيس الوزراء نتنياهو اعترفت بسيادة المملكة المغربية على كامل أراضيها وتم تصحيح جميع الخرائط الرسمية الموجودة في مكتب سيادته, بما فيها الخريطة التي عرضت عن طريق الخطأ في المقابلة، وفقا لذلك.
— رئيس وزراء دولة إسرائيل (@Israelipm_ar) May 31, 2024
In a letter to King Mohammed VI in July 2023, Netanyahu announced Israel's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
He promised to reflect this position in all of Israel's work and documents at the United Nations, regional and international organizations, and with all of its diplomatic partners. In addition, he expressed his interest in opening a consulate in Dakhla to consolidate this decision.
The use of the map that excludes the Sahara from Moroccan territory has led to a wave of criticism and speculation about whether Israel has backtracked on its recognition.
Since Israel's war on Gaza last October, Israeli-Moroccan relations, which resumed in December 2020, have been strained. The kingdom has become more critical of Israel in various international and regional forums.
