UN Slam United States Decision to Recognize Israeli Sovereignty over the Golan Heights

Morning Star, UK

THE UN security council condemned the US on Wednesday night for its decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Speaker after speaker at the open meeting supported Syria’s claim to the plateau and opposed Israel’s annexation of it, along with US President Donald Trump’s proclamation in Israel’s favour earlier this week.

South Africa’s UN ambassador Jerry Matjila said: “This unilateral action does nothing to assist in finding a long-term peaceful solution to the conflict in the Middle East.”

He and others pointed to multiple resolutions which have called for Israel to end its occupation of the Golan Heights, including a December 1981 security council declaration that Israel’s annexation of the area is “null and void and without international legal effect.”

Syria’s closest ally Russia urged governments to continue to view the Golan Heights as Israeli-occupied territory.

“If anybody feels any temptation to follow this poor example, we would urge them to refrain from this aggressive revision of international law,” Russia’s deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 six day war and annexed it in 1981. A 1974 ceasefire agreement that officially ended the 1973 Yom Kippur war war led to the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force known as Undof in the region.

Mr Trump’s proclamation that the Golan Heights is part of Israel raised questions about the future of Undof after its mandate expires on June 30.