During their momentous Washington meeting on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked President Donald Trump to give official American recognition to Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the mountainous northern region that Israel captured from Syria in the Six-Day War.
Netanyahu told reporters at a Blair House briefing after the meeting with Trump that the president had not seemed surprised or fazed by the request, seeming to indicate that the new administration might take a more favorable view towards the issue than previous White House inmates.
“His reaction was not earth shattering,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, replacing military administration with full sovereignty and rule of law. However, the move was not internationally recognized, though the annexation has never garnered as much controversy or criticism as proposals to bring Judea and Samaria under Israeli sovereignty.
The northern region has remained relatively quiet and peaceful apart from the occasional stray rocket from neighboring Syria, which is embroiled in civil war.
Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Syria during their meeting, with the Israeli premiere stating that Israel had no interest in involving itself in the conflict, though it would continue to take steps to stop weapons from reaching the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, as it has in the past.
