Marrakech – Moroccan diplomat Chaimae Bouazzaoui declared November a “golden month” for strengthening Morocco-Israel relations, urging Tel Aviv to define Polisario as a terrorist group in an article published on Israel Hayom last Tuesday.
“November will mark a jubilee for the ‘Green March’ (the march toward southern Morocco in 1975) and five years of the Abraham Accords. This is the ‘golden month’ for advancing relations by defining Polisario as a terrorist organization,” wrote Bouazzaoui, who was the first Moroccan woman diplomat to arrive in Israel to establish the coordination and liaison office after relations resumed in 2020.
Israel officially recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara on July 17, 2023, in a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to King Mohammed VI.
Bouazzaoui called for upgrading the diplomatic status between Rabat and Tel Aviv and establishing embassies. She also proposed organizing the next Negev Forum in Morocco’s desert, creating “an organization parallel to the UN, based on the desire to fight antisemitism, terrorism, and extremism.”
The diplomat stressed that “all Abraham Accords countries must reject Hamas and Iran’s proxies,” adding that “public awareness must be the key in the next battle against antisemitism, through people-to-people relations and educational programs.”
Although Morocco does not recognize Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people – historically maintaining ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) – public opinion tells a different story.
A 2024 poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies found that 75% of Moroccans viewed Hamas’ October 7 “Al Aqsa Flood” attack as legitimate resistance, while only a small minority considered it flawed or illegitimate.
Bouazzaoui also pointed to Morocco’s military cooperation with Israel as evidence of the strong partnership. “Morocco was the first country in the region to sign a defense agreement with Israel, making the kingdom a leading partner, after the US,” she noted.
“With the military initiatives in 2025, one can count the ‘African Lion’ exercises led by the US and the approval of a bilateral maritime transport agreement.”
She added that “Morocco also purchased artillery systems from Israel (36 Elbit Atmos 2000) as a primary weapons supplier. There is an intention to deepen economic and strategic ties.”
In her article, Bouazzaoui stressed the role of King Mohammed VI in strengthening Morocco-Israel relations, praising his “bold vision” that “focuses on human connections.”
She suggested that Moroccan officials, both diplomatic and non-diplomatic, “strongly condemned the terrorist attacks carried out against Israeli civilians” following the October 7 events.
In fact, on October 7, 2023, Morocco’s Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply concerned,” called for an immediate halt to violence, and condemned attacks on civilians “wherever they are.” The statement did not name Hamas explicitly, applying instead to all parties.
However, since then, Rabat has consistently supported Palestine through multiple channels – calling for de-escalation, denouncing Israeli aggression in Gaza, pushing for humanitarian relief, and reaffirming its unwavering backing of Palestinian rights.
Bouazzaoui asserted that Morocco’s stance during the conflict with Iran showed the country’s commitment to its partnership with Israel. “Morocco was actually the only country in the region that stood alongside Israel and the US when it decided not to join solidarity statements in favor of Iran,” she wrote.
“The relationships between Israel, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates are developing positively, with a focus on bilateral relations rather than multilateral ones, as seen in the 2022 Negev Forum. Each country demonstrates its own strength,” Bouazzaoui stated, arguing that what “international experts” said about October 7 and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza “cannot affect the foundations of the accords.”
The diplomat’s words come at a time when a recent official UN report confirmed that Israel’s war on Gaza constitutes a genocide. The latter has fueled growing backlash from the Moroccan people against Rabat’s continued ties with the Hebrew country – manifested in daily protests, sit-ins, and campaigns that have totaled over 10,000 since October 7.
Bouazzaoui concluded by reaffirming that “peace has no challenge, no weakness, and no threat. Peace offers only strengths,” pointing to the opportunities to restore the accords “to their greatness” through increased diplomatic and security cooperation, particularly by defining the Polisario as a terrorist organization.
Five-year assessment
Although Morocco renewed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, it firmly rejects being framed as part of the Abraham Accords. For Rabat, this was not “normalization” but the resumption of a relationship that long predates the Accords.
Morocco stresses that its ties with Israel are historically rooted and distinct from the broader Abraham Accords framework.
To add to the nuance, Moroccan officials have often presented the renewal of ties with Israel as a strategic bridge to better support the Palestinian cause.
This rationale proved true during the Gaza genocide – when Rabat channeled humanitarian aid through Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency (BMAQ), an institution of the Al Quds Committee chaired by the Moroccan monarch – reaffirming Morocco’s dual commitment to diplomacy and solidarity with Palestinians.
Still, as the Accords celebrate their fifth anniversary, numerous think tanks, research centers, and analysts have weighed their achievements and limitations, foregrounding Morocco’s singular trajectory within this shifting regional landscape.
The Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative published perspectives from American, Bahraini, Emirati, Israeli, and Moroccan authors. Sarah Zaaimi, resident senior fellow for North Africa at the Atlantic Council, explained her take on Morocco’s strategic calculations.
“Morocco’s 2020 re-normalization with Israel, brokered by the first Trump administration, should be viewed less as a diplomatic shift and more as a calculated move to position Rabat as a dependable pro-Western, pan-Abrahamic partner in North Africa,” Zaaimi wrote.
She elaborated that this partnership serves to “consolidate the future of the throne” and ensure continuity of Morocco’s Alaouite dynasty as King Mohammed VI prepares Crown Prince Moulay Hassan for “a seamless succession.”
She said that the relationship helps position Morocco among “traditional allies from the ‘Arab monarchy club’ like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan – which are also looking for self-preservation by ensuring seamless succession for their kingdoms.”
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) noted that military ties between Morocco and the Jewish state have intensified significantly. “In November 2021, the two states signed a military cooperation agreement – the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab state,” the report stated.
“Since then, including during the Gaza war, Morocco’s arms and military equipment purchases from Israel have totaled about $2 billion,” it added.
The INSS further cited that “according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), about 11% of Morocco’s defense imports come from Israel.”
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy assessed that “the Abraham Accords have proven unexpectedly resilient in the face of the war in the Gaza Strip, particularly given the negative public opinion toward Israel in Arab states.” The report noted that “cooperation in the security and economic spheres has even accelerated” despite ongoing tensions.
The Jerusalem Post editorial board stated that the Accords “represent a diplomatic, strategic, and economic leap forward, proving it can transcend isolation, forge new alliances, and shape a new Middle East.”
Meanwhile, a more critical analysis from the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) questioned whether the Accords truly represent a shift in regional dynamics or merely an elite-driven strategic realignment.
As one researcher noted, “The Abraham Accords should be read for the political limits and the narrow bases of support for this imagined new regional order.”
Indeed, the Abraham Accords have long been criticized for privileging elite diplomacy over grassroots legitimacy, creating what some observers call a “peace without people.”
Critics argue that bypassing public opinion, particularly in societies where solidarity with Palestine remains strong, risks hollowing out the accords’ sustainability and deepening the disconnect between official normalization and popular sentiment.
Growing support for designating Polisario as terrorist organization
Bouazzaoui’s call on Israel to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization comes amid growing international support for such action. In June, US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson officially submitted a bipartisan bill to Congress titled the “Polisario Front Terrorist Designation Act.”
The bill details the dangerous activities of the separatist group, describing it as a “paramilitary organization formed in Algeria in 1973” that “functions as a destabilizing militia – smuggling arms, indoctrinating young Moroccans and Sahrawis, and aligning itself with the strategic agendas of Iran, Russia, and China.”
The bill presents extensive evidence of the Polisario’s collaboration with Iranian proxy Hezbollah, noting that “the Polisario Front has a documented history of ideological and operational ties with Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, dating back at least to 1980.”
This collusion prompted Morocco to sever diplomatic relations with Iran in 2018, with Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and UN Permanent Representative Omar Hilale presenting evidence that Iran had “gone from training to equipping the Polisario with drones.”
The Washington Post reported in April that “Iran has trained Polisario Front fighters and provided them with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” confirming the dangerous evolution of this relationship from training to weapons transfers.
Former UK Secretary of State for Defense, Liam Fox, also called for designation, stating: “Like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Polisario Front is an Iranian proxy organization. For the sake of our Moroccan allies, Western governments must move quickly to designate this group as a terrorist organisation.”
In a strategic April analysis for the Hudson Institute, Zineb Riboua argued that the Polisario meets all three statutory criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization under US law.
Riboua stressed that the Polisario “violates the United Nations-backed 1991 ceasefire agreement in Western Sahara and siphons humanitarian aid to fund its militant infrastructure.” She underlined its operational ties, pointing to collaborations with Hezbollah and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
She further detailed how the group “receives drones from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) through transfers facilitated by the Algerian regime, and smuggles arms to jihadist insurgencies that threaten American forces across the Sahel.”
The analysis warns that “the Sahel is unraveling. Wagner mercenaries, Iranian weapons, and Chinese strategic encroachment contribute to rising instability. Morocco is the last reliable bulwark against this collapse. But the Polisario’s ability to operate with impunity weakens that bulwark.”
As Morocco and Israel officially mark five years next December since renewing diplomatic ties, their partnership stands as one of the region’s most consequential alliances.
Despite shifting regional fault lines and increasingly critical Moroccan public opinion, the relationship has advanced with unprecedented momentum – anchored by robust security cooperation that spans decades.