President Trump on Thursday endorsed Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, marking what would be a sharp U.S. policy shift over the disputed territory decades after Israel seized the land from Syria in the Six Day War.
“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!” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Washington next week—a meeting which comes as corruption allegations imperil his reelection bid. This month, Israel’s attorney general said he intends to charge Mr. Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, imperiling his bid to become the country’s longest-serving leader in its April 9 election. The charges are connected to three corruption probes and follow two years of investigations into the premier.
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White House officials have said that its long-awaited Middle East peace plan won’t be released until after the election. White House officials didn’t immediately reply to request for comment.
Mr. Netanyahu has pushed repeatedly for the U.S. to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the western Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War, and then annexed the territory in 1981 despite international condemnation.
The U.S. hasn’t officially recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, in keeping with a United Nations resolution it co-wrote after the 1967 war.
White House officials haven’t said whether the Trump administration’s long-awaited Middle East Peace Plan would recognize Israeli sovereignty of Golan and it remains unclear if this was a separate decision. However, last week, the State Department hinted at a policy change when it released its annual human rights report. There it used the phrase “Israeli-controlled” rather than “Israeli-occupied” to describe the Golan, the West Bank and Gaza, bucking previous protocol.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday that the language in the human rights report was used “with great intentionality. We didn’t make a mistake. It’s there for a reason. It’s not a change in U.S. policy. It was our intent, as it is in every element of the Human Rights Report, to be as factually descriptive as we can, and that’s what we did.”
Mr. Netanyahu said during a joint press conference Wednesday with Mr. Pompeo, “I think it’s time that the international community recognize Israel’s stay in the Golan, the fact that the Golan will always remain part of the state of Israel.”
Asked Thursday whether the Trump administration was considering a policy change with respect to the Golan, Mr. Pompeo said “the administration’s considering lots of things always, and I try to make sure we get to answers before we talk about them publicly.”
When Mr. Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton visited Jerusalem in January, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters that he hoped to take Mr. Bolton to the Golan Heights, adding, “when you are there, you’ll be able to understand perfectly why we will never leave the Golan Heights and why it is important that all countries recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”
Mr. Bolton’s visit did not happen, ultimately.
—Courtney McBride contributed to this article.
Write to Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-time-for-u-s-to-recognize-israels-sovereignty-over-golan-heights-11553187644
2019-03-21 18:24:23Z
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