For Trump, the Golan Heights come from Israel | The …

US President Donald Trump yesterday signed a decree recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The President justified this measure by what he described as acts of aggression by Iran and terrorist groups against Israel. The United Nations (UN), however, warned that the US decision did not change the international status of this region removed from Syria in 1967.

"This is something that should have been done decades ago," Trump said during the signing of the presidential proclamation, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. "The aggressive actions of Iran and terrorist groups continue to make the Golan a platform for launching attacks against Israel," the New York mogul said. The United States thus becomes the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over a occupied Syrian zone since the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed in 1981 by a gesture that the population had rejected and that the international community has not yet. He had not recognized. .

Netanyahu celebrated as historic the formalization of this measure, that Trump had already advanced last Thursday on a Twitter channel. "His proclamation comes at a time when the Golan is more important than ever for our security," the Israeli prime minister told Trump. "For me, it was very important to come here to the White House, Israel is lucky to have many friends at the Oval Office for many years, but Israel has never had a better friend than you," he said. dismissed the Prime Minister, who was forced to shorten his visit to the United States – initially scheduled for two days "because of new tensions in the Gaza Strip (see annex) .Netanyahu also claimed that his country does not have a" state of affairs ". will never give up sovereignty on the Golan Heights. "We will never give up on them," he said.

However, the UN stressed that the US President's decision does not change the international status of this ravaged region. "For us, the status of the occupied Golan is enshrined in Security Council resolutions, and the position has not changed," said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the head of the organization, António Guterres. "It is clear to the Secretary General that the status of the Golan has not changed despite Trump's decision," he added.

However, before the elections on 9 April during which Netanyahu holds office, the Prime Minister can boast of having a new diplomatic victory on his return from Washington (which would add to the American recognition of Jerusalem). as capital by Israel). Trump Government). The decision of the Republican President then falls like a glove for a Netanyahu who could be accused in the coming days of corruption in three cases. For the moment, in the run-up to elections, the right-wing leader, the Likud, in power for ten years, sees his chances of being reelected by centrist candidate Benny Gantz, a retired general, who presents himself as a serious opponent.

With the signing of this decree, the United States breaks with decades of international consensus and becomes the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over a strategic area occupying Syria since the Six Day War of 1967 and annexed to 1981. This annexation has never been recognized by the international community. In 1981, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution declaring null and void Israel's decisions to impose its laws and administration on that territory. The UN has since 1974 deployed a peacekeeping mission in the Golan, tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria and monitoring the implementation of the withdrawal agreement. Currently, this region is populated by some 27,000 mostly Druze Syrians. It is composed of four Arab cities – Madjdel Shams, Ein Qiniyye, Masade and Buqata – as well as about thirty Jewish settlements, considered as settlements by the international community.

The Syrian government rejected Washington's decision. "In a blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, the President of the United States has recognized the annexation of the Syrian Golan," said an official of the Foreign Ministry, quoted by the # 39; SANA state news agency. "Trump does not have the right or the legal authority to legitimize the Israeli occupation," added this source of Syrian diplomacy.

For its part, Russia, an ally of the government of Bashar Al Assad, said it feared a new wave of tension in the region. "This can unfortunately lead to a new wave of tension in the Middle East," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajarova said, according to Russian news agencies.