PNW - An ambiguous statement by a state department representative leaves open the possibility that the Biden administration could call for Israel to turn over the Golan to Syria at the same time that 73 Democrats in the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the president calling for the state department to declare it illegal for Jews to live in Judea and Samaria.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Thursday that an unnamed State Department official was asked to comment on the current administration's policy regarding the status of the Golan heights. The official reportedly answered, "the territory belongs to no one and control could change depending on the region's ever-shifting dynamics."
"The secretary [Anthony Blinken] was clear that, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security," the State Department official told the Free Beacon. "As long as [Bashar al-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 remains of real importance to Israel's security."
It became clear that the Biden administration had a different policy when, one month after Biden took office, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken refused to acknowledge that US recognition of the Golan would stay in place.
"Look, leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security," Blinken said to the media in February. "As long as [dictator Bashar] 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."
He concluded by saying that the possibility of using legal means to force Israel to relinquish the Golan was a definite possibility.
"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," Blinken said
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo disagreed with the new State Department's policy change.
"The Golan Heights are not occupied by Israel, they....READ MORE
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