Axios reports:
A fallout between President Trump and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led to the breakthrough that resulted in the Morocco-Israel normalization deal, sources briefed on the matter told me.
Inhofe is Washington’s most avid supporter of the Polisario Front — a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan occupation of the Western Sahara. He has travelled many times to Algeria for meetings with Polisario leaders.
Raw Story reports:
Trump decided to pull the trigger on the Morocco deal when Inhofe failed to deliver on two of his top priorities: Repealing Section 230 and blocking the renaming of military bases named after Confederate generals.
Trump aides in favor of the Morocco deal, including son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief of staff Mark Meadows, saw this rift as an opening to get the president to sign on after years of lobbying.
Today, I signed a proclamation recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara. Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal is the ONLY basis for a just and lasting solution for enduring peace and prosperity!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2020