US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday stopped short of endorsing the Trump administration's recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel, instead noting that the territory was important for Israel's security.
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Former President Donald Trump officially granted US recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory in 2019 – a dramatic shift from decades of US policy. Israel seized the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move that is not recognized internationally.
Speaking with Wolf Blitzer of CNN's The Situation Room, Blinken was asked if the Biden administration "will continue to see the Golan Heights as part of Israel," to which he replied, "Leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security.
"As long as Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and 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'd look at. But we are nowhere near as that," Washington's top diplomat said.
Biden's advisers had said previously that he would not withdraw US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.
Briefing reporters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response, "Look, they said they are looking at it, but I have already looked at it. As far as I am concerned, the Golan Heights will remain forever part of the State of Israel, a sovereign part.
"What, should we return it to Syria?" he added, noting the internal strife in Israel's long-time enemy. "Should we return the Golan to a situation where mass-slaughter is a danger?"
Blinken also reiterated the Biden administration's commitment to keeping the US Embassy in Jerusalem, after the Trump administration recognized the city as the capital of Israel, reversing previous US policy.
Trump was broadly in lockstep on Middle East policy with his closest ally in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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