After Blinken Remarks, Netanyahu Says Golan Will Always Be Israel’s

Israel will keep the Golan Heights forever, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced remarks that stopped short of recognizing the claim.

In 2019, then-U.S. President Donald Trump parted with other world powers by recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli. Israel conquered the strategic plateau in the 1967 Six-Day War and formally annexed it in 1981.

Blinken said on Monday he saw control of the Golan, which overlooks northern Israel and also borders Lebanon and Jordan, as being “of real important to Israel’s security” but was circumspect about recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

“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,” Blinken told CNN.

Briefing reporters, 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 asked rhetorically, noting the internal strife in Israel’s long-time enemy. “Should we return the Golan to a situation where mass-slaughter is a danger?”