PM Netanyahu with Jason Greenblatt, Trump's envoy. (Matty Stern/US Embassy Tel Aviv)
U.S. Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt released an updated map of Israel that included the Golan Heights.
By David Isaac, World Israel News
On Tuesday, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Middle East negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, released an updated map of Israel that now includes the Golan Heights.
“Welcome to the newest addition of our international maps system after @POTUS issued a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Mr. Greenblatt tweeted.
In March, President Donald Trump said that it’s time for the United States to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, an announcement that signaled a major shift in U.S. policy.
“After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” Trump tweeted on March 21.
The president signed a proclamation formally recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan on March 25.
Apparently, Special Envoy Greenblatt had a role in convincing President Trump to make the decision.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas earlier this month, the president explained that he decided to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights after a “quickie” lesson on the area’s historical and strategic importance to the Jewish state.
“I said, fellows, do me a favor. Give me a little history, quick. I want to go fast. I got a lot of things I’m working on, China, North Korea. Give me a quickie,” Trump noted, referring to a discussion with Mr. Greenblatt, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner.
The United States came under sharp criticism from the 14 Security Council nations on March 27 for its decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights in violation of council resolutions.
“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 at the meeting, reflecting the attitudes of the other member nations.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed the area in 1981. Much of the world still refuses to recognize Israel’s sovereignty on the Heights.
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