President Donald Trump's move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights turns the tables on decades of U.S. diplomacy and international law and threatens to further inflame regional tensions.
It is unlikely, though, to have much impact on the actual status of the territory, where Israel acts with full military control despite the lack of international recognition for its annexation 38 years ago.
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President Donald Trump's move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights turns the tables on decades of U.S. diplomacy and international law and threatens to further inflame regional tensions.
WHAT IS ITS POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE?
For then-Syrian President Hafez Assad, the father of current leader Bashar Assad, the loss of the Golan Heights left a gaping wound, and he held various rounds of talks with the Israelis aimed at recovering the territory. The two sides appeared close to a deal in 2000, but disagreement over its fate ultimately foiled the talks.
WHO LIVES THERE?
Settlers have built wineries, boutique hotels and a ski resort, transforming the picturesque area into a popular region for Israel's domestic tourism. The Sea of Galilee is also Israel's main reservoir.
WILL TRUMP'S DECISION HAVE AN IMPACT?
It could embolden other leaders who have seized territory in violation of international norms, such as Russia's action in 2014, when it seized Crimea from Ukraine .
Trump's decision could be, in a way, a boost for Assad as well as Iran, Hezbollah and the so-called axis of resistance, allowing them to change the conversation and switch focus from the Syrian civil war to Israel's occupation of the Golan.
The head of the Arab League, which suspended Syria's membership in 2011 over his handling of the civil war, rejected Trump's move and said the League fully supports Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
FILE - In this March 8, 2013, file photo, a U.N. peacekeeper stands guard on a watch tower at the Quneitra Crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The Golan Heights is a strategic high ground at the southwestern corner of Syria with stunning, broad views of both Israel and Syria below. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
FILE - In this August 2014, file photo, metal boards in the shape of gunmen sit on an old bunker at an observation point on Mount Bental in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, overlooking the border with Syria. The Golan front has been mostly quiet since 1974, a year after Syria and Israel fought a war during which Damascus unsuccessfully tried to retake the plateau. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
FILE - In this April 17, 2018, file photo, Druze men carry Syrian flags during a rally marking Syria's Independence Day, in the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye, Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel has built dozens of settlements in the Golan over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019. Roughly the same number of Arabs live in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit)
FILE - This April 5, 2011, file photo, shows a view of the village of Bukata in the Golan Heights, an area Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. Israel has built dozens of settlements in the Golan over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019. Roughly the same number of Arabs live in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
A look at the Golan Heights:
FILE - In this October 1973, file photo, Israeli soldiers look at a long row of burned-out Syrian T-62 tanks hit at the entrance of a village, background, during the Mideast War in the Golan Heights. The Golan front has been mostly quiet since 1974, a year after Syria and Israel fought a war during which Damascus tried unsuccessfully tried to retake the plateau. (AP PhotoFile)
WHAT IS ITS POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE?
The Golan Heights is a strategic high ground at the southwestern corner of Syria with stunning, broad views of both Israel and Syria below. It is roughly about 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) and borders the Sea of Galilee. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed it in 1981, a move that was never recognized by any country in the world.
U.N. Security Council resolution 497, issued after the annexation, refers to Israel's action as "null and void and without international legal effect."
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 1967, file photo, an Israeli column passes a burning Syrian tank in the Golan Heights as they head toward the fighting on the Israeli-Syrian front. The Golan Heights is a strategic high ground at the southwestern corner of Syria with stunning broad views of both Israel and Syria below. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed it in 1981, a move that was never recognized by any country in the world. (AP PhotoFile)
For then-Syrian President Hafez Assad, the father of current leader Bashar Assad, the loss of the Golan Heights left a gaping wound, and he held various rounds of talks with the Israelis aimed at recovering the territory. The two sides appeared close to a deal in 2000, but disagreement over its fate ultimately foiled the talks.
For Bashar Assad, recovering the territory has been more of a rallying cry than a genuine concern. The civil war in Syria over the past eight years has been the priority and the areas adjacent to the Golan nearly fell to the rebels at one point .
Having recovered those areas with Russia's help, Assad and his allies will likely seize on Trump's move to renew its claims to the Golan. The Syrian government said in a statement Friday it is now more intent on liberating the Golan, "using every possible means."
FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2014, file photo, Druze protesters participate in a rally in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, demanding the return of the territory captured by Israel in 1967, near the Syrian border. The annual demonstration protests the 1981 Israeli law in which the Jewish state annexed the strategic plateau it captured from Syria in 1967. (AP PhotoOded Balilty, File)
WHO LIVES THERE?
The Golan front has been mostly quiet since 1974, a year after Hafez Assad mounted a failed attempt to retake the plateau. The U.N. Disengagement Observer Force, known as UNDOF, was established to monitor the cease-fire in May 1974 by a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the Golan over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019. Roughly the same number of Arabs live there, most of them members of the Druze sect of Shiite Islam.
FILE - In this March 11, 2019, file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, right, visit the border between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Graham says he will push for American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War. (Ronen ZvulunPool Photo via AP, File)
Settlers have built wineries, boutique hotels and a ski resort, transforming the picturesque area into a popular region for Israel's domestic tourism. The Sea of Galilee is also Israel's main reservoir.
In contrast to the Palestinian territories captured in 1967, the Golan has remained quiet under Israeli rule. While most of the Golan's Druze have chosen not to take Israeli citizenship, they hold Israeli residency status that gives them the right to travel and work freely. Residents speak Hebrew.
Still, the community largely sees itself as inextricably linked to Syria. Many of the families living in the occupied Golan are separated from family in Syria. In past years, particularly before digital technology, they communicated with their brethren on the Syrian side through megaphones placed on two opposite sides of a valley named the "valley of tears." Before the war, brides would often cross at the border pass of Quneitra.
FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2016, file photo, an Israeli Merkava Mark 4 tank drives close to livestock during an exercise in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights turns the tables on decades of U.S. diplomacy and international law and threatens to further inflame regional tensions. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
WILL TRUMP'S DECISION HAVE AN IMPACT?
Trump's decision won't change the status of the Golan as occupied territory in the eyes of the U.N. and most of the international community, although it may not be easy for a successor to reverse a decision once it has been made.
Michael J. Koplow, policy director of the Israel Policy Forum in Washington, said Trump's move may even signal to Israeli politicians that they can argue for the annexation of the West Bank.
Tourists visit an old military outpost overlooking to Syria in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, Friday, March 22, 2019. President Donald Trump abruptly declared Thursday the U.S. will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy that gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election.(AP PhotoAriel Schalit)
It could embolden other leaders who have seized territory in violation of international norms, such as Russia's action in 2014, when it seized Crimea from Ukraine .
"This has a huge impact in terms of condoning occupation and has very negative implications if you're looking for peace in the Middle East," said Nikolaos Van Dam, an expert on Syrian War and former special envoy of the Netherlands to Syria.
WHAT ABOUT ARAB REACTION?
Tourists pose for photograph next to a mock road sign for Damascus, the capital of Syria, and other capitals and cities and a cutout of a soldier, in an old outpost in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights near the border with Syria, Friday, March 22, 2019. President Donald Trump abruptly declared Thursday the U.S. will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy that gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election.(AP PhotoAriel Schalit)
Trump's decision could be, in a way, a boost for Assad as well as Iran, Hezbollah and the so-called axis of resistance, allowing them to change the conversation and switch focus from the Syrian civil war to Israel's occupation of the Golan.
The Arab world is divided, and U.S. and Israeli officials may be betting no one will go to battle for Assad at this point.
Still, Arab occupied land remains a sensitive topic, even though Gulf countries may be more interested right now in partnering with Israel against Iran than in upholding notions of Arab nationalism. Even regional states opposed to Assad, while they may secretly rejoice at Trump's decision, will find it difficult to support it publicly.
FILE - In this Sunday, June 5, 2011, file photo, Israeli troops take positions, front, as pro-Palestinian protesters approach the border between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Israeli troops had earlier opened fire at a crowd of protesters who tried to break into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from neighboring Syria in a burst of violence marking the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast War. (AP PhotoOded Balilty, File)
The head of the Arab League, which suspended Syria's membership in 2011 over his handling of the civil war, rejected Trump's move and said the League fully supports Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
FILE - In this June 5, 2011, file photo, Israeli Druze men watch as pro-Palestinian protesters approach the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights. The area is a strategic high ground at the southwestern corner of Syria with stunning, broad views of both Israel and Syria below. (AP PhotoOded Balilty, File)
FILE - In this March 8, 2013, file photo, a U.N. peacekeeper stands guard on a watch tower at the Quneitra Crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The Golan Heights is a strategic high ground at the southwestern corner of Syria with stunning, broad views of both Israel and Syria below. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
FILE - In this August 2014, file photo, metal boards in the shape of gunmen sit on an old bunker at an observation point on Mount Bental in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, overlooking the border with Syria. The Golan front has been mostly quiet since 1974, a year after Syria and Israel fought a war during which Damascus unsuccessfully tried to retake the plateau. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)
FILE - In this April 17, 2018, file photo, Druze men carry Syrian flags during a rally marking Syria's Independence Day, in the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye, Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel has built dozens of settlements in the Golan over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019. Roughly the same number of Arabs live in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit)
FILE - This April 5, 2011, file photo, shows a view of the village of Bukata in the Golan Heights, an area Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. Israel has built dozens of settlements in the Golan over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019. Roughly the same number of Arabs live in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit, File)