Trump Says U.S. Will Recognize Israeli Sovereignty Over The Golan Heights

President Trump has tweeted that the U.S. will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. </s> Trump says it is time for US to 'fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty' over disputed Golan Heights

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump says it is time for US to 'fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty' over disputed Golan Heights . </s> Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said Thursday the decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights is “irrelevant and illegal,” according to the Al Mayadeen news channel. </s> US President Donald Trump will sign an order recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights when he meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday, Israel's foreign minister said.

"President Trump will sign tomorrow in the presence of PM Netanyahu an order recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Again breaking with longstanding international consensus, Trump said on Thursday that the United States should acknowledge Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

He however left unanswered if or when he would follow through with an order to do so.

Netanyahu has long pushed for such recognition, and many analysts saw Trump's statement, which came in a tweet, as a campaign gift ahead of Israel's April 9 polls.

The prime minister is locked in tough election campaign with a centrist political alliance headed by former military chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.

Syria and other states in the region condemned Trump's pledge, saying it violates international law. France said the same.

Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.

The decision is the latest major move in favour of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital. </s> (CNN) President Donald Trump on Thursday overturned longstanding US policy regarding the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, announcing "it is time" for the US to "fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty" over the region.

"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability," Trump tweeted.

The announcement hands Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a significant foreign policy victory, less than three weeks before Israelis head to the polls to decide whether he should remain in power. The move comes just days before Netanyahu is set to join Trump at the White House and follows weeks during which Netanyahu has renewed his push for the US to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981. But that annexation has not been recognized by the international community, which has regarded the Golan Heights as occupied territory and Israeli settlements there as illegal under international law. The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, recently reiterated that position.

"The Security Council is very clear that the Golan is Syrian territory, and the first aspect of (Resolution) 2254 is of course the territorial integrity of Syria," he said in a news briefing in late February.

Read More </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Monday recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, reversing more than a half-century of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump made formal a move he announced in a surprise tweet last week.

The president said it was time for the U.S. to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria. The U.S. is the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as Israeli-occupied.

Trump said his decision would cement the Jewish state's ability to defend itself from regional threats should a broad Arab-Israeli peace deal ever be reached. Trump's action also likely gives Netanyahu a political boost ahead of what's expected to be a close Israeli election.

Syria denounced the U.S. move as "blatant aggression" on its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The foreign ministry said Trump's step represented the "highest level of contempt for international legitimacy" and showed that Washington was "the main enemy" of Arabs.

Lebanon, which Secretary of State Mike Pence visited over the past weekend, said the Golan Heights are "Syrian Arab" territory and that "no country can falsify history by transferring" land from one country to another.

Amnesty International called the decision "irresponsible, reckless and yet another example of the Trump Administration violating international law and consensus by condoning Israel's illegal annexation."

Netanyahu had pressed for recognition of his country's sovereignty over the area for months.

Israel has long argued that the strategically important area has for all practical purposes been fully integrated into Israel since it was captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and that control of the strategic plateau is needed as protection from Iran and its allies in Syria.

"Today, aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, in southern Syria continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel," Trump said in the proclamation.

The proclamation noted the "unique circumstances" presented by the Golan, language that appeared to be aimed at countering criticism that the recognition would be used by other countries to justify control of disputed territory such as Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Netanyahu, even as he was somberly cutting short his visit to Washington to deal with a rocket attack in central Israel, was elated by Trump's move.

"Israel has never had a better friend than you," he told the president.

Netanyahu noted a series of steps Trump has taken since assuming office, including his withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

In addition to signaling U.S. support for Israel's security, the decision appeared to show Trump's support for Netanyahu, the political candidate in April 9 elections. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from a popular former military chief and reeling from a series of corruption allegations. He has repeatedly sought to focus attention on his foreign policy record and strong ties with Trump.

The two leaders met as the Israeli military was striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket that hit a house north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven people.

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee earlier Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said the rocket attack "proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace." Pence told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that "Hamas is a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas."

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit but announced early Monday he would leave early to take charge of the response to the rocket. </s> Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-26 01:56:09|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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A UN truck heads towards the Quneitra Crossing, the only land crossing between Syria's Quneitra and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on March 26, 2019. The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of the Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory, the state news agency SANA reported. (Xinhua/Wang Jian)

DAMASCUS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of the Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory, the state news agency SANA reported.

The ministry said in a statement that Trump's move is a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Syria," adding that the Syrian government completely rejects the decision and the Golan Heights will always remain a Syrian territory.

"Trump does not have the legal right to legitimize the occupation of others' land by force," the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in a war in 1967 and annexed it in the 1980s, but the international community has never recognized the move.

Recognizing the Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has been a recent demand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which comes months after the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. </s> President Donald Trump on March 21 declared that the United States recognizes Israel’s claim to the Golan Heights.

“After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability,” Trump tweeted.

Turkey, Iran, and Syria have condemned Trump’s statement on the Golan Heights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter to thank Trump, tweeting: “At a time when Iran seeks to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel, President Trump boldly recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Thank you President Trump! @realDonaldTrump.”

Israel captured the 1,800-square-kilometer Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.

In 1981, Israel extended its laws to the region, effectively annexing it, in a move that has not been recognized by the international community.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on March 22 that Trump’s move has brought the region to the edge of a new crisis. “We cannot allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights,” Erdogan told a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA that Damascus “condemns in the strongest terms the irresponsible statements of [Trump] regarding the occupied Syrian Golan.”

Trump’s remark “affirms the blind bias of the United States to the Zionist occupation entity and its unlimited support for aggressive behavior,” SANA added.

In an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, the president said that he had been thinking about Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights for “a long time.”

“It’s been a very hard decision for every president. No president has done it. This is very much like Jerusalem, moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” said Trump in the interview.

“Everybody campaigned on Jerusalem and the embassy going to Jerusalem. They all campaigned on it and they never did it and I understand why. I also campaigned on it and when I got elected, I was inundated with calls from all over the world – mostly the leaders – saying ‘don’t do it, don’t do it’. I did it and it’s been done and it’s fine,” continued Trump.

“The Golan Heights is the same thing. For years, other presidents have campaigned, they said they’d do it. This is sovereignty, this is security, this is about regional security,” he pointed out.

Asked whether the move had anything to do with Netanyahu’s re-election bid, Trump replied, “I wouldn’t even know about that. I have no idea. I hear he’s doing okay. But I would imagine the other side – whoever’s against him – is also in favor of what I just did.”

“Every president said ‘do that’. I’m the one who gets it done,” Trump said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appearing alongside Netanyahu in Jerusalem on March 21, hailed Trump’s move as “historic” and “bold.”

“Tonight, President Trump made the decision to recognize that that hard-fought real estate, that important place, is proper to be a sovereign part of the state of Israel. President Trump made a bold decision to recognize that, an important decision for the people of Israel. It will truly be historic, and the people of Israel should know that the battles they fought, the lives that they lost on that very ground, were worthy and meaningful and important for all time,” Pompeo said.

Iran, one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main military backers, condemned Trump’s remarks as dangerous.

“Trump’s personal and ill-considered decision is dangerous and will only lead to further crises in the Middle East,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared that the League fully supports Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

“The League of Arab States fully supports Syria’s right for its occupied territory. We have a specific position, based on resolutions, on this issue,” Aboul Gheit said, according to the Sputnik news agency.

The Kremlin voiced hope that Trump’s statement would not be enacted. “It is just a call for now. Let’s hope it will remain a call,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Login To Your FaceBook to Make Comments </s> Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Monday he would lobby the Trump administration to recognize the occupied Golan Heights as belonging to Israel.

Graham spoke during a tour of the plateau, captured from Syria during the 1967 Middle East War, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel effectively annexed the Golan in 1981, in a move not recognized internationally, when it adopted legislation that applied its laws to the area.

"There is no construct I can imagine now or any time in the future for the state of Israel to give the Golan up," Graham told reporters.

Syria's eight-year civil war has at times raged close to the Golan boundary.

Graham said he would talk to Trump about recognizing the rugged, strategically located plateau as part of Israel as it was "inconceivable that Israel could ever give it to anyone given the threats Israel faces".

Israel says the territory is a critical buffer zone to defend its territory and has itself lobbied Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty there.

In 2017, Trump broke with decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem and recognized the city as Israel's capital, angering Palestinians who seek its eastern sector as capital of a state they want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But Trump said he was not taking a position on the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intentions to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a move welcomed by Israel.