US senators call for recognition of Israeli control over occupied Golan Heights

Sputnik
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 17:38 UTC

Israel has been strengthening its hold of the Golan Heights, occupied during the Six-Day War in 1967, despite the lack of UN recognition of its sovereignty over the territory. Tel Aviv stresses that the territory is a crucial buffer for ensuring the security of Israeli citizens.

US Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, and Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, have made a joint statement urging Washington to recognise Israeli's claims to sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. The two senators stress that the territory serves an important role in defending Israel from Iran and its allies.

"Responding to the threat posed by Iran and its proxies requires ensuring that Israel can defend its territory and its citizens from attacks [...] To support Israel's right to self-defence, Washington should take the long overdue step of affirming Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights", the statement said.

The senators suggested a similar measure in the past in the form of a nonbinding resolution that called for recognition of Israeli claims to the Golan Heights.

Their latest call comes the day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited US National Security Adviser John Bolton to visit the Golan Heights and see why it's important for Tel Aviv that all countries recognise its sovereignty over the occupied territory. Bolton arrived in Israel to discuss the US withdrawal from Syria and reassure support for Israel.

The Golan Heights were seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and for a long time the territory was governed by an Israeli military administration. But in 1981 Tel Aviv decided to extend its laws to the occupied territory and established a civil administration there. The decision was condemned by the UN Security Council and labelled as illegal in terms of international law. Israel justified the move by saying it is safeguarding its borders from aggressive military acts by the country's neighbours.

The 2018 UN General Assembly resolution urged Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from the Golan Heights, despite US opposition. The resolution came after Tel Aviv organised local elections in the Golan Heights on October 30.

This was the first time that Israeli authorities allowed Syrians and Druze, who maintained their Syrian citizenship, to cast votes. Still, the measure was met by protests in the Golan Heights, with Syrians burning election ballots and waving Syrian flags. Druze Arabs attempted to block the entrances to polling stations to protest against the elections, but were dispersed by Israeli police.

Comment: And yet Crimea will never be Russian - in the minds of the American ruling class. Figure that one out. Israel's military invades and occupies an area and gets U.S. support. Crimea votes to return to Russia and everyone in the West loses their minds. Israel simply takes what it wants, entrenches itself, thus making a political solution near impossible, and expects the world to just accept the new status quo, all the while revelling in its victim status.

Reader Comments

katesisco · 2019-01-08T18:15:14Z

The end game begins.

China trade due in March. Brexit due in March. Ukrainian gas line from Russia goes dry. IRAQ occupation of thousands of troops to push to the MED allowing creation of new country Rojava for the US oil line.

Prez Trump declaring Martial Law to defeat the anti war Senators. The Golan Heights unresolved issue.

The gov shutdown cutting off food and health services for Native American tribes while at the same time states commander tribal lands to open mining concessions. It's no mistake all this and much more will be in the chaos pot simmering on the war burner for MARCH 2019.

There are no winners in a war, everyone steps back and we all loose. Best to collapse the stock market now, let housing fall, corporates public apologize for their endless greed, and we survive for another day.