Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Netanyahu: Golan Will Remain Israeli


Netanyahu after Blinken remark: Golan will remain Israeli

LAHAV HARKOVREUTERS



The Golan Heights will always be part of Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked back the Trump administration’s recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
"Israel's position is clear. In any future possible scenario the Golan will remain Israeli,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said.

Blinken said in an interview on CNN on Monday night: "As a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel’s security."
"Legal questions are something else and over time if the situation were to change in Syria, that's something we look at, but we are nowhere near that,” he stated.

Blinken added that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, as well as the presence of militia groups backed by Iran, pose a "significant security threat" to Israel.
US President Joe Biden’s advisers had said previously that he would not withdraw US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.
Former US President Donald Trump officially granted US recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory in 2019, a dramatic shift from decades of US policy. 


Right-wing parties running in the Knesset election in March said Blinken’s statement would not deter them from developing the Golan Heights.
New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar tweeted that Israel, under former prime minister Menachem Begin, applied its sovereignty to the Golan Heights 40 years ago.
"The Golan will always be an inseparable part of Israel," Sa'ar wrote. "A government led by me will strengthen and grow our settlement in the Golan Heights."

Yamina responded that "the future of our land will be decided by Israel's actions and not by words.

"An Israeli government led by Naftali Bennett will act to strengthen our hold on the Golan Heights, Samaria, the [Jordan] Valley and Judea and the rest of the land," the party stated.




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