The Foreign Ministry issued an apology early Friday morning following an uproar in Moroccan media over Prime Minister Benjamin 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 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 X 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.

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New details have come to light on the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Western Sahara as a part of Morocco. Israel Hayom has learned that back when he was still the Leader of the Opposition, Netanyahu promised the Moroccans to respond to their request. Subsequently, statements made by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen, and which were wrongly interpreted by the Moroccans, led to a dispute between the countries, and eventually this new dramatic step taken by Israel.

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Recognition of Western Sahara as part of Morocco is a top priority on the agenda of King Mohammed VI. Diplomatic sources have told Israel Hayom that since the announcement of the renewed relations between Israel and Morocco, the kingdom has expected Israel to recognize this contested region. Despite Rabat's eager expectations, the fact is that Israel did not express any obligation to such a move in the Abraham Accords.

As a result of Israel's reluctance to declare its recognition, the king steadfastly refused to receive the Israeli prime ministers serving in office throughout this entire period. The only Israeli representative who did meet the king of Morocco in public was the then head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben Shabbat, who represented Israel on the historic occasion of signing the agreement to renew relations with the kingdom. Additionally, Morocco did not upgrade its diplomatic mission in Israel to an embassy, even though its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, promised to do so on several occasions. Neither have any Moroccan ministers visited Israel, although their Israeli counterparts have visited Morocco on numerous occasions.

Video: Eli Cohen speaks about the Palestinians

In Israel, for over two years, going back to the period of the Bennett-Lapid government, the politicians have been toying with the question of whether or not to recognize Western Sahara. The arguments against doing so were the anticipated criticism from some European states and concern that some of them might even declare recognition of "Palestine" as a counter to this. Israel Hayom has also learned that during his visit to Israel in March 2022, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, met with then-Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu. It was during this meeting that Netanyahu promised that should he return to power, he would recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco in the name of the State of Israel.

As things turned out, in January 2023, Netanyahu indeed returned to serve as prime minister, but due to various reasons, implementation of this decision was delayed. Among others, Netanyahu sought to secure a clear undertaking from Rabat that it would provide Israel with something in return for such a move, but the Moroccans gave him the cold shoulder.

Eventually, the breakthrough occurred following a speech delivered in March 2023, of all people, by Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Ofir Akunis, in which, on behalf of Israel he gave a promise to invest in desalination plants in Western Sahara. Subsequently, a meeting was held between him and Morocco's Minister of Water, Nizar Baraka.

The process moved ahead positively until an address given by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, at a briefing to the foreign media about ten days ago. In response to a question regarding the Israeli position on Western Sahara, he stated that "We are currently working on that issue, and our plan is to reach a final decision at the Negev Forum scheduled to take place in September." Cohen was simply reflecting the process taking place behind the scenes, in which Israel had indeed intended to recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco. However, in the Moroccan media, his words were interpreted as an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Rabat and to apply conditions to Jerusalem's recognition.

Following this incident, last week, Foreign Minister Bourita phoned the Head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, asking for clarification on what Cohen had said. In response, and in order to make it crystal clear that Israel had absolutely no intention of trying to gain any leverage over Morocco, both the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel worked to expedite the dispatch of Netanyahu's letter, in which he declared Israel's recognition of Western Sahara. The current assumption is that the Moroccans will now upgrade the status of their diplomatic mission in Israel to an embassy and invite Netanyahu to visit the kingdom.

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Morocco is interested in purchasing Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system to "better ensure defense of the sand wall in the Sahara, but also of civil and military zones of a sensitive nature," according to a report in Moroccan digital news outlet Le Desk.

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The North African country normalized relations with Israel as part of last year's US-brokered Abraham Accords. In exchange, the US recognized Morocco's claims over Western Sahara.

Recently, Morocco has been involved in a dispute with its neighbor Algeria, which severed diplomatic ties in August. Algeria backs the Polisario Front independence movement in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Last week, Algeria accused Morocco of killing three Algerian civilians in Polisario-held territory of Western Sahara.

Speaking on Saturday, Morocco's King Mohamed VI said that sovereignty over Western Sahara is "not negotiable."

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One of them was that this statement did not prejudice the legal status of other disputed areas around the world.

Just recently, I saw a motorbike go into a no-through road and asked the driver why he did that. His answer was, "The sign says there is no entry for those wishing to go to Jabotinsky Street. " In other words, the driver inferred from the sign that the road does, in fact, lead to that street, even though the sign was supposed to carry the message: "Entry to Jabotinsky Street is forbidden."

Thus, it is likely that in other places around the world people may take encouragement from Pompeo's announcement, just as others will feel disappointed.

Even President Donald Trump's detractors say that the Trump Era has redefined our world. The 45th president, they concede, has embarked on a path that is very different than what has been tried and failed for decades.

After an era where might made right, Trump inherited an era in which the conventional "enlightened" wisdom was that the mighty were always wrong. But now Trump has changed that and has pursued a policy where someone's might, or weakness is not germane to whether they are right or wrong.

One of those places where Pompeo's announcement was heard loud and clear was Western Sahara.

The area is under Moroccan control but a minority of its residents, comprising tens of thousands, want independence over that vast territory. A source in Brussels told me even before Pompeo's announcement that the European Parliament is in a very turbulent period, and soon new committees will be formed based on the European elections that were held in May.

This period is known for the immense international pressure facing the parliament, in an effort to shape the committees and to stack them with supporters of various countries.

One of the lobbies currently working the hallways of the parliament is the Polisario Front, which represents 65,000 residents from Western Sahara who want to put an end to Morocco's presence.

Western Sahara's territory is 10 times the size of Israel and is about half the size of Morocco, the country with the third-largest Muslim population in the Middle East-North Africa region.

Spain left Western Sahara in 1975 and after which, Mauritania, Algeria, and Morocco all tried to seize it. Mauritania ultimately ditched that effort. Algeria, while no longer actively seeking its annexation, has nevertheless kept meddling there by arming the rebels against Morocco.

Morocco is the de facto power that is responsible for the residents of the area and has even built a physical barrier to demarcate its borders, but official bodies around the world have so far refused to accept the area as a legitimate part of the kingdom. Ironically, the Polisario Front wants sovereignty over an area where it has no way of governing viably as a sovereign power in the desert.

Morocco has a very liberalized economy. It has recently been ranked 60th in a survey ranking the "ease of doing business" around the world. Israel is ranked 49th. This also explains why it has not been more aggressive toward the separatists.

The Polisario Front is run by an unelected crop of leaders. Algeria, which is five times the size of Morocco but has just slightly more people, is primarily concerned with having access to the Atlantic Ocean so that it can export its natural gas and oil.

The United Nations has been pressuring Algeria and Morocco to reach some kind of understanding in this regard.

Rabat has been traditionally open to talks and compromises, and Algeria is also shown flexibility. Gone are the days that it would use the Polisario Front against Morocco.

Thus, Europe's efforts to get involved in this matter have not helped the reconciliation efforts, they have only empowered the extremists, who feel they can get more diplomatic concessions or at least have more bargaining power.

The reactionary view sees the weaker party as the just party, and that is why the Polisario Front members have received support from members of the EU Parliament who also favor the Palestinians over Israel, to the surprise of no one.

Just recently, the European Court of Justice ruled that products from Jewish settlements beyond the Green Line cannot have the labels "Made in Israel."

The EU has stressed that one can do away with labels altogether, but if you mark a country of origin you must not refer to the settlements as Israel. But that claim is purely naïve, because one cannot just do away with the country of origin – customs and health regulations require this.

The same manipulative policy was also adopted toward products made in Western Sahara, although this has almost no impact. The GDP of the hundreds of thousands of people in that region is less than 1 billion dollars, and half of it comprises services, which cannot be labeled.

The second most important source of national income is fishing. Morocco has recently struck a deal with the EU under which products from the sea in that area can be labeled "Made in Morocco."

This only shows the complex diplomatic duplicity on the part of the EU. Polisario Front wanted to deal a painful blow to Morocco but the actual results are meaningless. As we have seen up close, the battle is usually over the hearts and minds, at the expense of the people, to the point that they have to remain without an identity.

Morocco has no interest in making the conflict continue. It can easily incorporate the rebels in its territory if they understand they have no other choice. That is, if they realize that they no longer have the Algerian funding. But it also plainly obvious that the handful of desert residents there have no legitimate claim to statehood or any real shot at independence, or even autonomy, unless such self-rule is under the auspices of one of the large African states.

There is nothing that can be as deterring as "absolute justice," the utopian view that has prevailed in every parliament around the world, which calls for granting every minority its national aspirations, regardless of its motives and its history and without taking into account the question of whether it can viably realize its goals.

There is no feasible scenario in which the Saharawi people in that are can maintain a sovereign entity, and therefore the desire for absolute justice is a dangerous and misguided effort.

The Trump administration abandoned this radical view and it believes the US should not get involved in such conflicts. Or as the Duchess said in Alice in Wonderland: "If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does."

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