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Netanyahu Says He Has Not Given Up on U.S. Recognition of Israeli Control over Golan

Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post) - Israel is not giving up trying to gain U.S. recognition of its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, after U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton told Reuters: "There's no change in the U.S. position for now." Netanyahu asked the U.S. to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area in February 2017, but has not publicly been actively lobbying for the issue, though he does frequently bring it up with visiting statesmen. In July, the House Subcommittee on National Security held a hearing on the matter under the title: "A New Horizon in U.S.-Israel Relations: From an American Embassy in Jerusalem to Potential Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty over the Golan Heights." Former Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold, who is currently the head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, appeared before the committee and advocated for a recognition of Israeli sovereignty. He said on Thursday that the key words in Bolton's remarks about the subject were that Washington was not considering the issue "for now." "I think they are focused on the President's peace plan, and am not surprised that they are not looking now to come up with new initiatives." Gold asked what would the alternative to Israeli control of the Golan Heights be - "to resurrect the power of the [al-Qaeda affiliate] Nusra front, or to give it to Hizbullah and Iran? Israel is the strongest power that will protect the Golan Heights, and combat the effort of Iran to take over this part of the region." Gold said that Israel "should make an effort" to obtain American recognition of Israeli control there. He added that "The Trump administration is one of the friendliest administrations to the State of Israel, and therefore an initiative of this sort would not be inconsistent with how the administration looks at the region as a whole."
2018-08-24 00:00:00
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