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After the UN refused to recognize, the United State’s recognition of Israel, America should take its recognition of Israeli lands to the next level. In 1967, during the Six Day War, Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. In 1981, the formally annexed it in to their own border. However the UN refused to recognize the territories conquered by Israel in 1967 and voted for UNSC Resolution 242. Unfortunately, since the US wasn’t really an ally of Israel at the time, LBJ had America voting in favor of this resolution. Under the UN viewpoint, the Golan Heights is Syrian land occupied by Israel.
Throughout the decades, there have been suppositions that Israel and Syria would engage in some sort of peace deal in exchange for the return of the Golan Heights similar to Egypt. Recent years however throw that possibility out of the window. The Syrian Civil War crippled the Syrian government for a few years, and the ongoing battle against terrorism reduces Syria’s chances of getting that land back. Furthermore, the Syrian regime in 1967 is unrelated to the current one due to the “Corrective Movement” in 1970. Israel however has, in recent years, allowed private companies to cultivate the land for oil and other uses. The Golan Heights is oil rich and therefore strategically valuable for both military and economic purposes. So again the conclusion to be made is that Israel is not giving this land up. Syria is in no position to take the land and Israel is making long term investments the land.
To not recognize this land as Israel’s would be just as unrealistic as not recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, though not as antisemitic. Political maps are just that: political. Realistically speaking, the Golan Heights belong to Israel. Arguing otherwise is about as geographically illogical as arguing the world to be flat. History shows that we recognize a nation’s right of conquest. When the US ceded the Southwest from Mexico, the world didn’t refer to this the west as “occupied territory” fifty years later. Likewise Israel should be afforded the same treatment from its gains in 1967. In fact, Israel’s right was recognized by in following its War of Independence. So the inconsistency at the UN level of not recognizing Israel’s border is beyond asinine.
Since the US and UN are on bad terms right now, the opportunity is clear for the United States to strengthen its alliance even more with Israel by recognizing its 1967 gains. Israel has unsuccessfully suggested this action multiple times. Under Obama it was rejected. However Netanyahu is seeking to capitalize on a substantially friendlier administration. This raises the question of how we can call ourselves an ally if we continue refusing to recognize the present border, especially since the Golan Heights is largely undisputed in the “two-state solution” talks.
Furthermore, the issue of Iran comes into play. Despite Trump’s tougher stance, Iran still has the upper hand because the Iran deal is still in effect. At very least, recognizing the Golan Heights would piss the Ayatollah off. In eventual peace talks in Syria, we could use the Golan Heights as a bargaining chip when we recognize the continued existence of the Assad regime, again in keeping with the theme of recognizing reality. Syria could recognize Israel’s claim, and America would cease undermining Assad’s regime. That’s a win-win. (I’m trying to salvage some sort of victory out of Obama and Hillary’s disastrous intervention in Syria.)
Ultimately, this comes down to our respect for our sovereign ally. UNSC Resolution 242 was not ratified by the US Senate. Therefore it has no binding properties under US law. If we are to have a strong alliance with Israel, we need to extend to them this basic level of respect and disregard the international community in the process. We listened to Israel when they declared their capital, now we need to listen to them as they’ve declared their border.
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