It’s Not Just Trump! Congress Too Wants to Recognize Israel’s Illegal Annexation of the Syrian Golan
Because Trump’s pronouncements on social media are often bizarre, the attention people give them tends inadvertently to obscure the larger political picture in the U.S. Take, for example, Trump’s tweet on recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights. Few people are aware what Congress is doing in that regard.
The Golan Heights is Syrian territory. In the June 1967 war, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel captured most of it.
As it did with Jerusalem, Israel annexed the Golan (through legislation in 1981) despite the fact that annexing land captured in war is a violation of international law. This is so even if that war is defensive. No country recognizes the annexation of the Golan Heights (or of Jerusalem) other than the recent gestures made by the US.
In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution urging Israel to withdraw from the entirety of the Syrian Golan Heights. The vote was a record with 99 in favor, 10 against and 66 abstentions. This was followed by a General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution (also overwhelmingly passed) on the permanent sovereignty of Syria over the natural resources of the Golan Heights. [UN Documents for Golan Heights (Israel/Syria)]
Furthermore, the local population in the Golan continues to hold on to their Syrian citizenship and national identity. Israel has given the Syrian residents the option of citizenship, but most rejected it.
Nevertheless, Benjamin Netanyahu has been pressuring this US president as well as members of Congress to recognize Israel’s illegal sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights since 2017.
In the US, the executive branch (i.e., the president) has the power to initiate as well as implement foreign policy:
through responses to foreign events, proposals for legislation, negotiation of international agreements, nomination of leading foreign policy officials, and statements of policy.
Trump’s tweet re: the Golan Heights is as follows:
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!
It was a remark made
without evident sign of much serious internal US policy debate… The State Department referred questions about any policy review to the White House. A White House official declined to comment, indicating there was nothing to add to the president’s tweet.
The U.S. Constitution also gives Congress extensive powers to shape foreign policy:
Lawmakers seldom interact directly with other nations on policy, but the laws that Congress passes, or treaties and nominations the Senate approves, can influence U.S. interactions with other countries.
Citing a “threat” posed by Iran, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Mike Gallagher have each introduced a bill that seeks to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
- The House of Representatives’ bill is “H.R.1372 — To clarify that it is United States policy to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.” It is sponsored by Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher and has 23 co-sponsors; all Republicans. It has been referred to committees.
- The Senate bill is S.567 — A bill clarifying that it is United States policy to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights . It is sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-TX) and has 7 cosponsors, all Republicans.
On its side, Syria has just filed charges against Israel to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), noting that “Israel continued to bury nuclear waste with radioactive content in 20 different areas populated by Syrian citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan, particularly in the vicinity of al-Sheikh Mountain.”
In 2013, Israel granted the first Golan Heights oil drilling license to Dick Cheney-linked company. It’s not Iran, but oil and corporate greed that are driving both Trump and Congress.
In 2015, The Economist reported:
An influential group is now lobbying Israel’s government to take advantage of the chaos in Syria and demand international recognition of its control of 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) on the Golan. The group includes Zvi Hauser, a former cabinet secretary to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who has urged that Israel should demand this as a compensation for having to tolerate the nuclear agreement with Iran.
It is not clear whether Genie shares this objective, but if it chose to, it would be no surprise. Genie’s founder and CEO is Howard Jonas, an influential American-Jewish businessman. The president of Genie’s Israeli subsidiary is Effie Eitam, a Golan settler and a former general who is close to the prime minister. And in America Genie has increased its clout. In September it added some influential new members to an advisory board that already included a former vice-president, Dick Cheney, and a media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch.
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Note: The above was first published as an answer on Quora to the question: Can President Trump represent the US (without the consent of Congress) and recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights?
