U.S. endorses Israel’s Golan sovereignty
Trump gives Netanyahu a pre-election boost with a shift in policy
JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump declared Thursday that the U.S. will recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy that gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election.
The administration has been considering recognizing Israel’s
sovereignty over the strategic highlands, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, for some time, and Netanyahu had pressed the matter with visiting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a day earlier.
U.S. and Israeli officials said Wednesday that they had not expected a decision until next week, when Netanyahu is to visit the United States. Trump will welcome Netanyahu at the White House for meetings Monday and a private dinner Tuesday organized by his son-in-law and Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner.
But in a tweet that appeared to catch many by surprise, Trump said the time had come for the United States to take the step, which Netanyahu welcomed as a “miracle” on the Jewish holiday of Purim.
“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 U.S. will be the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as disputed territory occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between Israel and Syria. Attempts to bring Israel and Syria to the table have failed. It was not clear how a U.N. peacekeeping force in the Golan might be affected by the U.S. move. That force’s mandate expires at the end of June.
There had been signals a decision was coming. Last week, in its annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase “Israeli-occupied” from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it “Israeli-controlled.”
Pompeo had brushed aside questions about the change, insisting that there was no change in policy. However, in comments to reporters ahead of a Purim dinner with Netanyahu and his wife at their Jerusalem home, Pompeo hailed the shift.
“Tonight, President Trump made the decision to recognize that that hardfought real estate, that important place, is proper to be a sovereign part of the state of Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu, who is embroiled in a fierce re-election campaign ahead of April 9 voting and reeling from corruption allegations, took Trump’s tweet as full recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory.
“We have the miracle of Purim,” he said. “Thank you President Trump.”
Netanyahu has for weeks been stepping up longstanding Israeli requests for the U.S. and others to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan. He has bolstered Israel’s traditional argument that the area has for all practical purposes been fully integrated into Israel by accusing Iran of trying to infiltrate terrorists from Syria into the plateau.
“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,” Netanyahu tweeted.
Trump’s announcement came as Pompeo was wrapping up a two-day visit to Jerusalem during which he lauded warm ties with Israel, met with Netanyahu on at least three separate occasions and promised to step up pressure on Iran.
Pompeo’s events with Netanyahu included a visit to the Western Wall that made him the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Jewish holy site with any Israeli leader and appeared to further signal the Trump administration’s support for Israel’s control of the contested city. Trump has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv, prompting the Palestinians to sever ties with the administration.
Pompeo’s presence also appeared to signal Trump’s support for Netanyahu the political candidate. Netanyahu, facing a tough challenge from a popular former military chief, has repeatedly sought to focus attention on his foreign policy record and strong ties with Trump.
“The Trump administration is absolutely endorsing Netanyahu,” said Alon Pinkas, former consul general of Israel in New York. “It’s very rare for a secretary of state to come visit an Israeli prime minister without any apparent diplomatic reason justifying it, without a peace process, without any regional agenda.”
Pompeo said his trip had nothing to do with politics or U.S. policy on Jerusalem, although for decades American officials refrained from visiting the Western Wall with Israeli leaders to avoid the appearance of recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the city’s most sensitive holy sites. Israel captured east Jerusalem and the Old City in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Also on Thursday, multiple Democratic presidential candidates said they won’t attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference next week in Washington.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Kamala Harris of California are among the 2020 contenders who have decided not to attend AIPAC conference. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering an independent bid for president, will also avoid the conference.
It comes as the liberal advocacy group MoveOn has called on Democratic presidential candidates to skip this year’s policy conference, saying AIPAC had tried to thwart the Iran nuclear deal and had employed “anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric.” By not attending, the Democratic candidates can demonstrate their progressive bona fides in an increasingly crowded 2020 field. Bloomberg News contributed.