Blinken Says Golan Heights Important to Israel's Security, Stops Short of Recognizing Sovereignty

JERUSALEM, Israel – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the Biden Administration believes the Golan Heights, territory Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day War, is important to the Jewish state’s security, but he stopped short of affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the strategic area. 

“As a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel’s security,” Blinken told CNN. “As long as [Syrian President 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 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 look at but we are nowhere near that,” Blinken added.

Secy. of State Antony Blinken on whether the US will continue to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights: "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" pic.twitter.com/yHQBr7FvgP

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) February 9, 2021

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 but officially annexed the territory in 1981 in a move that is not recognized by the international community. The Trump administration officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan and Biden’s advisers have said his administration will not reverse this decision.

Biden has also said he will not move the American embassy in Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv.

When asked if Blinken regards Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Secretary of State replied, “I do, yes. And more importantly, we do.”

The Biden administration, however, has put a temporary hold on the former president’s sale of US weapons to several Middle Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Blinken said the US is ending its “support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” calling it one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Instead, he explained that the US is focused on ending the war through diplomatic means and Washington is still “deeply committed to the defense of Saudi Arabia” against Iranian militias.

Blinken also applauded Arab-Israeli normalization deals under the Trump administration but stressed that the so-called “Abraham Accords” are not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

“We applauded the Abraham Accords. This is an important step forward….It’s good for overall peace and security and it offers new prospects to people throughout the region,” said Blinken.

“That doesn’t mean the challenges of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians go away. They don’t. They’re still there. They’re not going to miraculously disappear. We need to engage on that but in the first instance, the parties in question need to engage on that.”

The Biden administration reaffirmed its support for the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We are looking to make sure neither side takes unilateral actions that make the prospects for moving towards peace and a resolution even more challenging than they already are,” said Blinken.

“Hopefully we see both sides take steps that create a better environment in which actual negotiations can take place.”

The Secretary of State also addressed Israeli concerns that President Biden has yet to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since taking office.

“They spoke, actually, during the transition. I think one of the first calls that the president had was with the prime minister. I’ve talked to my Israeli counterparts on multiple occasions already,” he said, adding that he is “sure” Biden and Netanyahu will speak again “in the near future.”

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