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00:00 And last, I want to ask you about Israel recognizing the Western Sahara as part of Morocco.
00:13 First, do you have any comment on that?
00:16 I know that the last administration didn't recognize that as – in the lead-up to the
00:22 normalization between Morocco and Israel.
00:24 Do you have any comment on this, if Israel had recognized this?
00:26 How do you stand on this issue?
00:28 I would just say as a general matter, the resumption of relations between Morocco and
00:31 Israel has been an unequivocal positive for the region, and we look forward to working
00:37 with these close U.S. partners to expand the circle of peace further.
00:41 So – but you have no position on recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco?
00:47 I don't have a comment on the Israeli Government's decision to do that.
00:51 Okay.
00:52 You have a comment on the position of the United States of America?
00:54 Well, obviously, the United States took that step in December of 2020 and it has not been
00:58 changed.
00:59 It has not been changed.
01:00 So it stands.
01:01 The Western Sahara, as far as you're concerned, is part of Morocco.
01:04 I would say that the policy was announced in December of 2020.
01:06 It has not changed.
01:07 I will say at the same time, we fully support the UN personal envoy of the Secretary General,
01:13 Staffan de Mistura, as he intensifies efforts to achieve an enduring and dignified political
01:18 solution for Western Sahara.
01:19 Back in December of 2020 when that was announced, there was also a big announcement with a great
01:24 amount of fanfare that the U.S. was going to open – instruct and open a consulate
01:30 in Western Sahara.
01:31 That appears to have fallen by the wayside as you guys are going full bore on opening
01:39 new embassies and consulates around the Indo-Pacific.
01:43 So not to suggest that this would – that the Western Sahara consulate, the delays in
01:52 that are related to what's going on in the Indo-Pacific, but is it still on hold?
01:58 Are you still planning to build one?
02:00 Or is this the beginning of the walking away from what the Trump administration did?
02:06 I will have to get back to you on the construction of the consulate.
02:09 I'm just not following the construction.
02:11 Well, it should be in there.
02:13 I'm – it's not an issue I'm following, the construction of the consulate.
02:15 Well, it should be right there under the – under the extra talking points and the little background
02:20 bit, it should say – I will tell you the issues I'm following
02:23 and the issues I'm not, and that is not one I'm following.
02:25 But I'm happy – but I'm –
02:26 Please.
02:27 Please.
02:28 (whooshing)
02:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]