Golan Heights decree signed
Israeli premier praises sovereignty recognition by Trump
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Monday recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, formalizing a move he announced in a surprise tweet last week.
Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump reversed more than a half-century of policy, making the U.S. the first country to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territory.
Israel captured the strategic plateau on the border with Syria in the 1967 Mideast war, and the country has said the land is now fully integrated into Israel and is necessary as protection from Iran and its allies in Syria. However, the international community still regards the land as Israeli-occupied.
Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, was
elated by Trump’s move.
“Israel has never had a better friend than you,” he told the president, citing Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decision to move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu had originally planned a three-day visit, but he announced that he would cut it short to deal with a surprise rocket attack in central Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said at least 30 rockets had been fired into Israel from the Palestinian territory, nearly all of which were either intercepted or landed in open areas. However, one hit a family house near Tel Aviv, injuring seven Israelis.
“Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this,” Netanyahu said at the White House.
Israeli forces began at least 15 retaliatory strikes that continued early this morning. Gaza’s Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were injured.
Israel opened public bomb shelters in most major cities, and civil defense authorities canceled sports events and public transportation in southern Israel.
“Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression,” Netanyahu said. “We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state.”
Late Monday, Hamas announced that a cease-fire had been brokered by Egyptian mediators. But shortly after, renewed rocket fire could be heard in Gaza, setting off airraid sirens.
WORLD REACTION
Countries around the world criticized Trump’s Golan Heights declaration.
Syria said Trump’s move represented the “highest level of contempt for international legitimacy” and showed that Washington was “the main enemy” of Arabs. Neighboring Lebanon also denounced the move, saying the Golan Heights is “Syrian Arab” territory and that “no country can falsify history by transferring” land from one country to another.
Even U.S. allies Canada and Turkey expressed opposition.
“In accordance with international law, Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the Golan Heights. Canada’s long-standing position remains unchanged,” the Canadian Foreign Ministry said. “Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law.”
Turkey’s foreign minister said that the U.S. had ignored international law and that the decision would further increase tensions in the region.
At the United Nations, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres adheres to Security Council resolutions that Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights is “null and void and without international legal effect.”
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.”
Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said Trump seems to want to “drive a wrecking ball” through international law that protects the people who live in “occupied Golan Heights.” He said it could embolden other “occupying states to double down on their own land grabs, settlements and plunder of resources.”
However, 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.
ROCKET ATTACK
Before announcing his early departure, Netanyahu was scheduled to give a keynote address today at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Vice President Mike Pence, in his own speech at the conference, said the rocket attack “proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace.” Pence told the group that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, “is a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas.”
In Israel, the military said Hamas was directly responsible for the rocket attack. Officials announced they were reinforcing troops in the area with two additional brigades, one infantry and one armored, and calling up “a limited number” of reservists for specialist units.
Later, the army announced it was blocking all routes adjacent to the security fence with Gaza and called on farmers in the area to stop their work.
Ahead of the Israeli airstrikes, Hamas’ leadership went into hiding. Among the targets were the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Israeli military confirmed that the building was destroyed, saying it had “served as an office for many military meetings.”
An earlier blast destroyed a multistory building in Gaza City that Israel said had served as a Hamas military intelligence headquarters.
Haniyeh issued a statement warning Israel against heavy retaliation. He said the Palestinian people “will not surrender” and its militant factions “will deter the enemy if it exceeds the red lines.”
Although rocket launches from Gaza are not unusual, Monday’s rocket strike was the second time month to target the major city of Tel Aviv. Israel and Hamas fought a 50day conflict in the summer of 2014.
The attack, and Israel’s response, were criticized by Netanyahu’s opponents, who said he has led an ineffective policy of containing Gaza militants.
“The reality in which Hamas turned Israel into a hostage is unprecedented and unfathomable,” his chief challenger, Benny Gantz, wrote on Twitter on Monday. Gantz is a former military chief who led the army during the last Gaza war in 2014.
Netanyahu also came under criticism from his own allies.
“Israel’s deterrence has collapsed, and it has to be said in all honesty Netanyahu has failed against Hamas,” said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Yamin HeHadash faction in Netanyahu’s coalition.
Netanyahu faces the difficult task of delivering a tough blow to Hamas while avoiding protracted fighting ahead of election day next month. Observers said Trump’s proclamation on the Golan Heights likely gave Netanyahu a political boost.
Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu, said a mild response to the missile attack was not an option.
“It will be something on a bigger scale,” he said. “He doesn’t want a war before elections, but they put him in a corner.”