Trump recognises Israeli annexation of Golan Summary: Trump announces a U-turn on the Golan Heights. General condemnation. A boost for Netanyahu’s election prospects.

On 25 March President Trump formally proclaimed that the United States recognises that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.
The western part – two thirds – of the Golan was conquered by Israel in the 1967 war. It forms part of the “territories occupied in the recent conflict” from which Israel was required to withdraw in Security Council resolution 242 of the same year in accordance with “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”, along with the West Bank of Palestine (Judaea and Samaria) and Gaza. But it is physically, historically and politically quite different from them.

Physically it is a plateau of about 690 mi.² lying between Israel to the west and Syria to the east, overlooking and in old-fashioned terms strategically dominating both. Historically it has not generally been regarded as part of Israel (or Palestine), although the ancient history is of course complicated and Israeli politicians are keen to claim that it has been Israeli for thousands of years. Until the First World War it was part of the Ottoman Vilayet (province) of Damascus. As determined by the League of Nations and subsequent negotiation between Britain (allotted the Palestine mandate) and France, it was part of French mandated Syria, and on Syrian independence remained part of Syria.
After 1967 its recovery was a major objective of President Hafiz al-Asad of Syria, briefly achieved in part in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. But the final 1973 ceasefire left most of the Golan in Israeli hands, with a demilitarised zone dividing the two controlled by the UN. In 1981 Israel placed its part of the Golan under Israeli laws and administration, effectively annexing it. The annexation was declared null and void in Security Council resolution 497.
During the last seven years of civil war in Syria the eastern part of the Golan which was not occupied by Israel has seen fighting between Syrian government forces and various opposition groups; in July 2018 the government regained control.
Trump announced the “Proclamation” at a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, “a very special man.  He’s done a great job”, explaining that “aggressive action by Iran and terrorist groups in southern Syria, including Hezbollah, continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel.  Very violent attacks.” Netanyahu replied praising Trump as one of a handful of non-Jewish leaders who had made proclamations on behalf of the Jewish people, Cyrus the Great, Lord Balfour, President Truman and president Donald J Trump. It was “a twofold act of historic justice.  Israel won the Golan Heights in a just war of self-defense, and the Jewish people’s roots in the Golan go back thousands of years.”
Like the decisions to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and to move the US Embassy there, this was a reversal of a long-standing position in which the US was aligned with virtually the whole of the rest of the world (and like those decisions does not change the legal position: only the Security Council could do that). The US had of course voted for Security Council resolutions including 242 and 497. As recently as August 2018 John Bolton as national security adviser had contradicted reports that the change was under discussion in Washington.
The decision was foreshadowed on 21 March by Trump on Twitter and by Netanyahu at a press conference with Mike Pompeo. It was instantly criticised, for example by the Arab League Secretary General, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Richard Haass President of the Council on Foreign Relations, and J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. An EU spokeswoman said “The European Union, in line with international law, does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory.”
Measured criticism came after the “Proclamation”. On 25 March the UN Secretary-General said that the status of Golan had not changed. At a Security Council meeting on 28 March requested by Syria, Syria described the decision as a flagrant violation, and the ambassadors of the UK, Russia, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland expressed concern about “broader consequences of recognising illegal annexation and also about the broader regional consequences.” China said it was opposed to any unilateral action attempting to alter the status of Golan as a territory occupied by Israel. President Erdoğan said today 29 March that the decision risked a regional crisis.
Among many other similar statements the UK Conservative Middle East Council said the decision “seriously undermines the United States’ traditional role as the mediator in the dispute [between Israel and Palestine]… this move significantly elevates risk of further seriously destabilising the Middle East… extremely regretful and we find it deeply concerning.” According to a New York Times report headlined “Netanyahu Says Golan Heights Move ‘Proves You Can’ Keep Occupied Territory”, “Mr. Pompeo has been peppered with questions about how the situation there [Golan] differs from the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014″. A Washington Post report makes the same point, quoting a State Department spokeswoman who attempts to distinguish the Golan case from the Crimea, concluding bravely that “The U.S. policy continues to be that no country can change the borders of another by force.”
It is clear that the timing of this US change was chosen to support Netanyahu who is facing a tough fight in the Israeli election, although Trump denied it. Neither Trump nor Netanyahu, in their initial statements, attempted to link it to the Israel/Palestine conflict although Pompeo told a congressional hearing on 27 March that it increased the likelihood of resolving the conflict; “We think it speaks with the clarity that takes this away from any uncertainty about how we’ll proceed.” (The headline of the Reuters report refers misleadingly to the “peace process” – currently there is none).