US President Donald Trump on Monday recognized the disputed Golan Heights as Israeli territory in an election boost for visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, drawing a sharp response from Syria and several other nations.
Trump, with Netanyahu looking over his shoulder during a visit to the White House, signed a proclamation officially granting US recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
The move, which Trump announced in a tweet on Thursday, appeared to be the most overt gesture by the US president to help Netanyahu, who had been pressing Trump for the move since February 2017.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Israel’s parliamentary election is on April 9.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. The US is the first country to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as Israeli-occupied.
Syria reacted swiftly to Trump’s proclamation, calling it a “blatant attack” on its sovereignty and territorial integrity and saying it had a right to reclaim the Golan.
Turkey and the Arab League condemned the move, as did five Gulf Arab states, with Riyadh warning the move would hurt the peace process and affect regional stability.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait — all regional allies that host US troops — said the territory was occupied Arab land.
“It will have significant negative effects on the peace process in the Middle East and the security and stability of the region,” a statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency said.
It described Monday’s declaration as a clear violation of the UN Charter and of international law.
Kuwait and Bahrain said they regretted the decision, while Qatar called on Israel to end its occupation of the Golan Heights and comply with international resolutions.
The United Arab Emirates said it regretted the decision.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the move was against international law.
“No one could imagine that a person in America comes and gives land of a nation to another occupying country, against international laws and conventions... Such action is unprecedented in the current century,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
However, in signing the proclamation, Trump said: “This was a long time in the making.”
He handed the pen that he used for his signature to Netanyahu, and said: “Give this to the people of Israel.”
Netanyahu welcomed Trump’s action and said Israel had never had a better friend. He harked back to two previous Middle Eastern wars in justifying Israel’s need to hang on to the Golan.
“Just as Israel stood tall in 1967, just as it stood tall in 1973, Israel stands tall today. We hold the high ground and we should never give it up,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “clear that the status of Golan has not changed,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) says thousands of Syrians have gathered in the streets of different cities to protest Trump’s decision.
SANA posted photographs of a march yesterday morning in the southern city of Sweida, in which men and women carried Syrian and Palestinian flags and banners reading “Golan is Syrian.”
Additional reporting by AP
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