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JERUSALEM: Israel will maintain the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in a 1967 battle, even when worldwide views on Damascus change, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Monday.
In 2019, then US President Donald Trump broke with different world powers by recognising Israel as sovereign on the Golan Heights, which it annexed in 1981 in a transfer not recognised internationally.
Bennett’s remarks got here as the present U.S. administration hedges on the Golan’s authorized standing and a few U.S.-allied Arab states ease their shunning of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his dealing with of a decade-old civil battle.
Addressing a convention concerning the Golan’s future, Bennett stated the inner Syrian strife had “persuaded many on the planet that maybe it’s preferable that this stunning and strategic territory be within the State of Israel’s fingers.
“However even in a scenario wherein – as may occur – the world adjustments tack on Syria, or in relation to Assad, this has no bearing on the Golan Heights,” he informed the discussion board hosted by the conservative Makor Rishon newspaper.
“The Golan Heights is Israeli, full cease.”
ASSAD GRIP ON POWER
The extension of Assad’s two-decade-old presidency in a Could election did little to interrupt his pariah standing within the West, however fellow Arab leaders are coming to phrases with the very fact he retains a stable grip on energy.
Geopolitical issues contributing to their recalculation embody calls by Assad backer Russia for Syria’s reintegration, Washington’s extra hands-off regional method and Arab hopes of countering Iranian and Turkish clout in Damascus.
Whereas not altering the coverage, President Joe Biden’s administration has been circumspect on the Golan subject, describing Israel’s maintain in de facto somewhat than de jure phrases.
Requested in a February interview if Washington would proceed to deem the Golan Heights a part of Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signalled openness to an eventual coverage overview on a territory most international locations think about to be beneath occupation.
“So long as Assad is in energy in Syria, so long as Iran is current in Syria, militia teams backed by Iran … the management of the Golan in that scenario, I feel, stays of actual vital to Israel’s safety,” he informed CNN.
“Authorized questions are one thing else. And, over time, if the scenario have been to alter in Syria, that is one thing we would have a look at.”
In his speech, Bennett pledged to double the scale of the Israeli inhabitants on the Golan, which is presently about equal to a Druze Arab group that always professes loyalty to Syria.
In 2019, then US President Donald Trump broke with different world powers by recognising Israel as sovereign on the Golan Heights, which it annexed in 1981 in a transfer not recognised internationally.
Bennett’s remarks got here as the present U.S. administration hedges on the Golan’s authorized standing and a few U.S.-allied Arab states ease their shunning of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his dealing with of a decade-old civil battle.
Addressing a convention concerning the Golan’s future, Bennett stated the inner Syrian strife had “persuaded many on the planet that maybe it’s preferable that this stunning and strategic territory be within the State of Israel’s fingers.
“However even in a scenario wherein – as may occur – the world adjustments tack on Syria, or in relation to Assad, this has no bearing on the Golan Heights,” he informed the discussion board hosted by the conservative Makor Rishon newspaper.
“The Golan Heights is Israeli, full cease.”
ASSAD GRIP ON POWER
The extension of Assad’s two-decade-old presidency in a Could election did little to interrupt his pariah standing within the West, however fellow Arab leaders are coming to phrases with the very fact he retains a stable grip on energy.
Geopolitical issues contributing to their recalculation embody calls by Assad backer Russia for Syria’s reintegration, Washington’s extra hands-off regional method and Arab hopes of countering Iranian and Turkish clout in Damascus.
Whereas not altering the coverage, President Joe Biden’s administration has been circumspect on the Golan subject, describing Israel’s maintain in de facto somewhat than de jure phrases.
Requested in a February interview if Washington would proceed to deem the Golan Heights a part of Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signalled openness to an eventual coverage overview on a territory most international locations think about to be beneath occupation.
“So long as Assad is in energy in Syria, so long as Iran is current in Syria, militia teams backed by Iran … the management of the Golan in that scenario, I feel, stays of actual vital to Israel’s safety,” he informed CNN.
“Authorized questions are one thing else. And, over time, if the scenario have been to alter in Syria, that is one thing we would have a look at.”
In his speech, Bennett pledged to double the scale of the Israeli inhabitants on the Golan, which is presently about equal to a Druze Arab group that always professes loyalty to Syria.
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