WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday stopped endorsing the Trump administration’s recognition of the occupied Golan Heights as part of Israel, noting that the area is important to Israel’s security. .
Former President Donald Trump officially granted US recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory in 2019 – a dramatic shift from decades of US policy. Israel conquered the Golan in Syria in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed it in 1981 in a step not recognized internationally.
“As a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation, in my opinion, remains of great importance for Israel’s security,” Blinken told CNN. “Legal issues are something else and over time if the situation in Syria were to change, it would be something we look at, but we are nowhere near it.”
He added that the Syrian government, Bashar al-Assad, as well as the presence of militia groups backed by Iran was a “significant security threat” to Israel.
Biden’s advisers had earlier said he would not withdraw US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.
Blinken also reiterated the Biden government’s commitment to keep the US embassy in Jerusalem, after the Trump administration recognized the city as the capital of Israel, and reversed previous US policies.
Trump was broadly on lockdown in Middle East policy with his closest ally in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden and his team have said they will restore ties with the Palestinians cut by Trump, resume their aid and reject unilateral action, such as building Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
Biden’s failure to speak to Netanyahu so far during his calls with foreign leaders has raised eyebrows in Israel and among experts in the Middle East. Obama and Trump both spoke to him within days of taking office.
Asked why Biden did not speak to Netanyahu, Blinken said: “I am sure they will have the opportunity to speak in the near future.”
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Sonya Hepinstall)