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Mauritania’s preparations to restore diplomatic relations with Israel has sent ripples across North Africa, with the most profound impact felt in neighboring Algeria, a country that has made antisemitism a tenet of its foreign policy.
The Mauritanian-Israeli rapprochement, confirmed by news platform Semafor and Israeli media, marks a significant realignment in regional politics and further isolates Algeria in its staunch opposition to normalization with Israel.
Mauritania, which severed ties with Israel in 2010 following the Gaza conflict, is now re-engaging diplomatically as part of a broader US-brokered initiative.
The decision aligns Nouakchott with a growing number of Arab and African nations that have normalized relations with Israel, notably its northern neighbor Morocco.
For Algeria, Mauritania’s move is a diplomatic blow. Algeria has often used Israel to justify its hostile stands towards Morocco. In 2021, it cut ties with Morocco citing its ties with Israel, whom it also accused-without offering whatsoever evidence- of igniting devastating fires in the Kabylie region the same year.
When Algeria re-introduced visa requirements on Moroccan citizens, it cited fears that Israeli citizens could enter Algiers using Moroccan passports.
Anti-Israel rhetoric has been a key tool in regime legitimization policies in Algeria and the recent Mauritania-Israel rapprochement is a new test to Algeria’s shift blaming policy.
Will Algeria react to Mauritania as it did with Morocco: cutting ties, closing borders, imposing visas etc?
For now, Algeria remains a staunch defender of the Iran and its proxies in the region in anachronistic stands that are not shared by its pragmatic neighbor Mauritania. The cost of isolation for Algeria will become heavier economically, geopolitically, and diplomatically.
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