Morocco has secured a new diplomatic platform, with the United States and Israel backing its sovereignty claim over Western Sahara and expanding security cooperation. The joint declaration was signed in New York on 16 September 2026, as Rabat faces the Ceuta crisis and prepares for legislative elections on the 23rd. Washington and Israel have put support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal basic to their trilateral partnership.
The declaration says the three governments intend to strengthen cooperation on the international stage. It also points to opportunities created by Morocco and Israel’s diplomatic normalisation in December 2020, promoted by the United States through the Abraham Accords. Arab News reported that the declaration sets out plans to restore direct flights between Morocco and Israel by the end of 2026, alongside a deeper upgrade of bilateral diplomatic ties.
For Rabat, the wording matters: it moves the Western Sahara dispute further from the referendum model defended by the Frente Polisario. The text presents Morocco’s autonomy plan as the urgent route forward and says any other option would merely prolong the current stalemate.
Neither partner is taking a new position. The United States formally recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory in 2020, while Israel did so in 2023. The joint statement brings that backing into a single diplomatic structure and links it directly to cooperation between the three governments.
Morocco’s Foreign Minister Naser Burita signed the declaration with Israel’s Gideon Saar and Mike Waltz, the United States representative to the United Nations. The three officials reaffirmed their commitment to the Abraham Accords and praised Donald Trump for promoting the understanding between Israel and several Arab states during the final stage of his first term.
The Frente Polisario condemned the declaration through Sahara Press Service, calling the position adopted by Morocco, the United States and Israel hostile and illegal. Its response makes clear that the trilateral statement strengthens Rabat’s diplomatic position but does not resolve the dispute or secure the Sahrawi side’s agreement.
Security is the arrangement’s most concrete pillar. The declaration also covers trade and economic relations, as well as air links, technology and innovation. Reported plans extend to finance, water, agriculture and energy. It calls for agreements on investment protection and the avoidance of double taxation to be completed by the end of 2026. The military relationship has already produced measurable changes in North Africa. The latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Morocco has overtaken Algeria in arms purchases and is now Africa’s largest weapons importer.
The United States supplies 60% of Morocco’s weapons acquisitions. Israel accounts for 24%, after restoring diplomatic relations and signing a defence cooperation agreement in 2021, while France provides 10%. Joint exercises such as African Lion, organised by the United States in southern Morocco, are part of the same security structure.
The Western Sahara file is also changing at the United Nations. The Security Council reviewed the role of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as Minurso, 35 years after its deployment. Its personnel and resources have already been reduced, and the mission now mainly observes conditions on the ground without the power to intervene.
Morocco controls 80% of the territory, while the Frente Polisario controls the remaining 20% from exile in Algeria. Negotiations in Manhasset between 2007 and 2008 and in Geneva between 2018 and 2019 produced no settlement. Talks launched in Madrid last February, with United States involvement and United Nations mediation, also included Algeria and Mauritania. They stalled in May after Washington shifted its attention to the conflict with Iran in support of Israel.
Sources in El Aaiún who are in contact with the UN mission say Washington wants a large cut to Minurso personnel and its annual cost. Maintaining the mission cost 68 million dollars last year, while several contracts for staff in El Aaiún ended without renewal. Its mandate is due for a strategic review before 31 October.
The diplomatic push also reaches the Strait of Gibraltar. Burita said Morocco should help develop an international code of conduct for states bordering straits and maritime passages. He argued that Rabat carries direct responsibility for managing and securing a route used by one vessel every five minutes. The proposal adds a maritime dimension to a partnership already built around territory, arms and regional influence.
The agreement is more than a ceremonial declaration. Washington and Israel are consolidating Morocco’s position on Western Sahara, while Rabat presents itself as a security actor connecting Africa with the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Against the backdrop of the Ceuta crisis and earlier Ceuta coverage, the message is direct: Morocco is bringing its diplomatic and military reach to bear, along with its geographic position. The alliance does not settle the dispute with the Frente Polisario, but it strengthens the Moroccan formula and leaves Minurso with a narrower role on the ground.
