Signalling a shift in US policy that comes before the Israeli prime minister’s planned visit next week to the White House, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said it was time to back Israeli sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
He tweeted on Thursday, “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”
After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2019
Reacting to this Twitterati called it “clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 which calls the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights “null and void.”
This is in clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 which calls the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights “null and void.” Trump cannot just make some poop tweet while constipated and change international law. It doesn’t work that way at all.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 21, 2019
This, Mr President is a gross violation of international law & of SC Res.242 (1967) “ emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”. You might want to consult with your international lawyers. Fairness & equity are key to peace in the ME.
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) March 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/Nour20Syr/status/1108799150135619584
Trump’s tweet came in the wake of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Jerusalem.
Much of the Golan Heights was seized by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and was annexed in 1981. However, the move never got recognition from the international community.
While the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appreciated Trump’s announcement saying that Trump “made history” with his announcement, Richard Haass, a former senior State Department official who is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet he strongly disagreed with Trump’s Golan decision. He claimed that the move violates UN Security Council resolution 242, “which rules out acquiring territory by war and serves Israel as it says all states have right 2 live in peace.”