The hastily completed White House ceremony in which President Donald Trump signed a decree granting official US recognition to Israel’s illegal annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights is an act which, on its surface, appears to change few facts on the ground in the Middle East. No one should underestimate, however, its far-reaching global implications. In…
US President Donald Trump has announced that it is time to recognise the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as part of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under attack at home, subject to prosecution for corruption and bribery, has welcomed the gift from Trump. The timing is perfect for Netanyahu, who is struggling to eke…
In a controversial snub to international law, the United States signaled last week that it is moving to officially recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israeli territory. If the US does so, then it forfeits any moral authority to sanction Russia over allegations of “annexing Crimea”. In its annual US State Department report, the…
Washington last week gave another sign that the Trump administration is moving towards declaring the Golan Heights to be Israeli sovereign territory. At the heart of the move are huge anticipated US-Israeli oil profits. In an annual human rights report, the State Department referred to the Golan Heights as “Israeli-controlled,” dropping the international norm of…
Who really cares what Trump says when nobody’s words one way or the other are going to change the reality that “Israel” probably won’t be dislodged from the occupied Golan Heights anytime soon, especially not when Russian troops are enforcing an anti-Iranian “buffer zone” there and Moscow itself strongly suggested that Damascus surrender this territory…
The state of Israel seems to share at least some of the responsibility for the latest shift of U.S. Syria policy — as National Security Adviser John Bolton announced on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s call to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria would now be “coordinated” with Israel, after meeting with top Israeli officials including…
