III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 732 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should recognize 

Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17, 2018 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. COTTON) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States 

should recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. 

Whereas, until 1967, Syria controlled the Golan Heights and 

used the topographical advantage it provided to attack 

Israeli troops and civilians; 

Whereas, in June 1967, Syria intensified its attacks against 

Israel from the Golan Heights, and Israel captured the 

Golan Heights in a defensive war; 

Whereas, in October 1973, the Golan Heights provided Israel 

with critical strategic depth to repel a surprise attack by 

Syrian forces; 

Whereas, on September 1, 1975, President Gerald Ford provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that ‘‘the U.S. will 

support the position that an overall settlement with Syria 


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•SRES 732 IS 

in the framework of a peace agreement must assure 

Israel’s security from attack from the Golan Heights’’ 

and that ‘‘the U.S. has not developed a final position on 

the borders. Should it do so it will give great weight to 

Israel’s position that any peace agreement with Syria 

must be predicated on Israel remaining on the Golan 

Heights’’; 

Whereas, in October 1991, Secretary of State James Baker 

provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that ‘‘the 

United States continues to stand behind the assurance 

given by President Ford to Prime Minister Rabin on September 1, 1975’’; 

Whereas, in 1981, Israel applied its ‘‘law, jurisdiction, and 

administration’’ over the Golan Heights and has controlled the Golan Heights for 51 years; 

Whereas, since 2011, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has 

killed hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians, including 

with weapons of mass destruction, and has pursued an 

ethnic cleansing campaign against Syrian Sunnis; 

Whereas Iran has used the war in Syria to establish a military presence in the Levant, including thousands of Iranian troops and proxies, and now seeks to create territorial corridors that solidify its control, expand its activities, establish a permanent military presence, and provide 

arms to its terrorist proxies; 

Whereas Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and the leaders of Iran regularly threaten to wipe 

out Israel; 

Whereas Iran and its proxies have repeatedly attacked Israel 

from inside Syria, including in February 2018 when IraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Dec 17, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR732.IS SR732

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•SRES 732 IS 

nian forces infiltrated Israel with a drone and in May 

2018 when Iranian forces shelled the Golan Heights; 

Whereas, in December 2014, Congress unanimously resolved 

that the United States supported the sovereign right of 

the Government of Israel to defend its territory and its 

citizens from attacks against Israel by Hamas, a terrorist 

group supported by Iran; and 

Whereas Israel’s control over the Golan Heights provides a 

defensible border, deters attacks from hostile forces, facilitates intelligence gathering, and allows Israel to detect 

threats to its national security: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the United States supports the sovereign 

3 right of the Government of Israel to defend its terri4 tory and its citizens from attacks against Israel, in5 cluding by Iran or its proxies; 

6 (2) Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights 

7 is critical to Israel’s national security; 

8 (3) Israel’s security from attack from Syria and 

9 Lebanon cannot be assured without Israeli sov10 ereignty over the Golan Heights; 

11 (4) it is in the United States national security 

12 interest to ensure Israel’s security; 

13 (5) it is in the United States national security 

14 interest to ensure that the Assad regime faces diplo15 matic and geopolitical consequences for the killing of 

16 civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Syrian Sunnis, and 


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•SRES 732 IS 

1 the use of weapons of mass destruction, including by 

2 ensuring that Israel retains control of the Golan 

3 Heights; and 

4 (6) the United States should recognize Israel’s 

5 sovereignty over the Golan Heights. 

Æ 


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