Donald Trump: US Recognizes Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights

Donald Trump: US Recognizes Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights

President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States is recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory it captured in 1967’s Six-Day War and has controlled since then, VOA news reports.

Trump, in a Twitter comment, said the Golan Heights “is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”

Trump’s statement came while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Jerusalem, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the contested Western Wall in the holy city of Jerusalem accompanied by an Israeli leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit possibly signaled tacit U.S. recognition of Israeli control of the Jewish holy site, but it was quickly followed by Trump’s specific announcement on the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu has accused Iran of attempting to launch attacks on Israel from the Golan Heights, saying, “I think for this reason and many more, it is time that the international community recognizes Israel’s stay on the Golan, and the fact that the Golan will always remain part of the State of Israel.”

The Israeli leader praised Trump’s decision shortly after the president’s announcement.

“President Trump has just made history,” Netanyahu said after calling the U.S. leader. “The message President Trump has given the world is that the United States stands by Israel. We are deeply grateful for the U.S. support.”

Last week, the U.S. State Department, in its annual human rights report, dropped the phrase “Israeli-occupied” from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it “Israeli-controlled.” Pompeo told reporters the change in terminology was not accidental but rather a reflection of the reality on the ground that the Jewish state controlled the territory.

In his visit to Jerusalem, Pompeo reaffirmed the long-standing U.S. friendship and support for Israel.