Netanyahu congratulates king of Morocco over UN resolution supporting the country's autonomy plan for Western Sahara

Statement by prime minister represents one of the first clear government positions on the conflict

After the UN Security Council voted in favor of a U.S.-backed resolution, which stated that autonomy for the disputed region of Western Sahara "could constitute a most feasible solution" to the issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement congratulating King Mohammed VI.

“I wish to congratulate His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the endorsement by the UN Security Council of a resolution which supports Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday. “It is a triumph for a long lasting determined Moroccan diplomacy!”

PM Netanyahu:
I wish to congratulate His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the endorsement by the UN Security Council of a resolution which supports Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. It is a triumph for a long lasting determined Moroccan diplomacy!
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 2, 2025

The Security Council adopted the resolution on Friday, in a push by the U.S., along with several regional partners, to settle the 50-year territorial dispute between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, a movement started in the 1970s purportedly to gain independence for the Sahrawi people from Spanish colonial rule.

The Polisario Front shifted their attention to the Moroccan government, after Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, with Spanish support. Many Western nations have declared the group to be a terror organization, and it has received significant support from Algeria and Iran.

The new UN Security Council resolution represents a rare level of unity among the permanent Security Council members, and by adopting the resolution of Morocco, originally submitted in 2007, could lead to the end of conflict in the territory.

According to the Moroccan plan, the Western Sahara would become an autonomous region within Morocco, with local legislative, executive, and judicial authority being determined by elections by the residents, while Morocco would retain control of defense, foreign affairs, and religion in the territory.

The statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu marks one of the first direct statements of support for Morocco’s Western Sahara plan, although supporters of the Polisario Front have often accused Morocco of joining the Accords only to secure Israeli support in bringing the U.S. onboard with its autonomy plan.

Meanwhile, some Moroccans were offended when a recent map of the Middle East, held by Netanyahu during his recent UN speech, continued to show the Western Sahara as a separate region. Netanyahu’s statement was appreciated by the Moroccan Military Forum, who responded to the Prime Minister’s Office tweet with a post of its own.