Blinken: “As a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel’s security.”
By LAHAV HARKOV, REUTERS
FEBRUARY 9, 2021 11:09
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.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/blinken-stops-short-of-endorsing-trump-recognition-of-golan-heights-658295.