JERUSALEM — President Trump’s recognition of Israeli authority over the Golan Heights established a precedent allowing the annexation of territory captured in a defensive war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told reporters while traveling home after his trip to Washington was cut short by a new round of fighting with the Gaza Strip.
“There is a very important principle in international life,” Mr. Netanyahu said late Monday before taking off from Andrews Air Force Base. “When you start wars of aggression, you lose territory, do not come and claim it afterwards. It belongs to us.”
Moments before landing at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu re-emphasized the point, telling reporters, “Everyone says you can’t hold an occupied territory, but this proves you can. If occupied in a defensive war, then it’s ours.”
The prime minister’s remarks — made in the final weeks of a tight election campaign — are certain to cheer right-wing Israelis who believe that international acceptance of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan, a strategic plateau captured in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, could pave the way for annexation of at least part of the occupied West Bank.
A Haaretz poll published on Monday found that 42 percent of Israeli voters support annexation of some portion of the West Bank, including some who favor a two-state solution in which the West Bank and Gaza would become a Palestinian state.
There are important differences between the West Bank and the Golan Heights, however. The Golan, which Israel effectively annexed in 1981 by applying its own laws there, was part of Syria before 1967.
By contrast, Israel contends that the West Bank was not legally part of any sovereign nation before Israel captured it in 1967, and thus considers it disputed, rather than occupied, territory. Israel’s failure so far to annex the West Bank has left the door open to a negotiated solution.
At the same time, Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights did not stop consecutive Israeli prime ministers — including Mr. Netanyahu himself — from holding negotiations with the Syrians with a view to a Golan-for-peace agreement.
Source : Nytimes
