US Says Not Changing Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty over Golan Heights

The border fence between the Israeli Golan Heights and the Syrian governorate of Quneitra on February 15, 2021. (AFP)
The border fence between the Israeli Golan Heights and the Syrian governorate of Quneitra on February 15, 2021. (AFP)
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US Says Not Changing Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty over Golan Heights

The border fence between the Israeli Golan Heights and the Syrian governorate of Quneitra on February 15, 2021. (AFP)
The border fence between the Israeli Golan Heights and the Syrian governorate of Quneitra on February 15, 2021. (AFP)

The US State Department denied on Friday that the Biden administration is planning to annul its recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

In a tweet, the US State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs said: “US policy regarding the Golan has not changed, and reports to the contrary are false.”

The tweet was in response to a report that said Washington was shifting its policy, sparking uproar in Israel. On Thursday, the Washington Free Beacon wrote in one of its headlines “Biden Admin Walks Back US Recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli Territory.”

It said it has spoken to the US State Department press office, asking for the Biden administration’s position on the Golan Heights.

When asked to clarify the stance on the territory, the State Department official told the Free Beacon that “Secretary of State Antony Blinken was clear that, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security.”

The official added that as long as Bashar al-Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself—all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and as a practical matter, the control of the Golan remains of real importance to Israel's security.

Commenting on those statements, Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Barlev told the Maariv on Friday: “The Golan Heights became no more Israeli because of Trump’s decision, and it will not become less Israeli if the decision is now revoked.”

Barlev denied that the new Israeli government was informed by the US administration that it intends to change its policy on the Golan Heights. “The new government is attached to its political program, which stipulates doubling the number of human settlements in the Heights.”

In a related development, Israeli Channel 13 quoted an Israeli political official as saying that the issue has not been discussed with the Americans and that the Golan Heights should remain under Israeli sovereignty “forever”.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six Day-War in 1967 and annexed it in 1981. It has built dozens of settlements in the area over the years, with an estimated 26,000 Jewish settlers living there as of 2019.



EU Official Hold Talks in Algeria on ‘New Pact for Mediterranean’

European Commission Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Stefano Sannino. (EU)
European Commission Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Stefano Sannino. (EU)
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EU Official Hold Talks in Algeria on ‘New Pact for Mediterranean’

European Commission Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Stefano Sannino. (EU)
European Commission Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Stefano Sannino. (EU)

The European Commission’s Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, Stefano Sannino, made an official visit to Algiers on Tuesday to discuss with senior Algerian officials the reviving of their “Partnership Agreement” and a plan to engage the partner countries of the Southern Neighborhood in the New Pact for the Mediterranean.

In a statement, the European Commission said Sannino will stay in Algeria until April 24.

“This mission is firmly in line with the consultations conducted on the New Pact for the Mediterranean, which the European Commission will adopt in the coming months, with a view to promoting a more integrated and supportive approach to regional cooperation,” the statement said.

During this visit, Sannino will hold talks with representatives of several Algerian ministerial departments, including Foreign Affairs, Energy, Finance, and Culture.

He will also take part, on Wednesday, in the opening of a conference on “New Investment Dynamics and Prospects for Cooperation” between the European Union in Algeria, jointly organized by the Delegation of the European Union in Algeria and the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency (AAPI), in the presence of representatives of the Algerian Economic Renewal Council (CREA) and the business community in Algeria.

The visit will provide a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the EU’s commitment to revitalizing bilateral cooperation with Algeria, within the broader and strategically articulated framework of the New Pact for the Mediterranean, the Commission said.

It added that the EU “aspires to a partnership that goes beyond the very strong existing relations, particularly in the energy sector, to build other strategic complementarities for sustainable and inclusive growth, in a changing geopolitical context and facing shared challenges such as reindustrialization, economic competitiveness, and the green transition.”

The visit comes as Algeria’s Foreign and Commerce ministries hold talks with the North Africa Unit at the Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, aimed at reviving their “Partnership Agreement” signed in 2002.

The new Agenda for the Mediterranean was launched by the European Union in 2021 to strengthen the strategic partnership with its Southern Neighborhood partners in trade and renewable energies, upgrading facilities and infrastructure, and managing migration and counter-terrorism issues.