Netanyahu urges US to recognize Golan as part of Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the administration of US President Donald Trump to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as part of the Israeli territory.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights and then annexed it in 1981 in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. Neither has the US recognized the annexation of the mountainous area.

Netanyahu made the request during his Wednesday meeting with Trump in Washington but the new US president’s “reaction was not earth shattering,” according to the Israeli premier who talked to reporters.

The Israeli regime has built scores of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government and aid militants in the Arab country.

Last December, the UN General Assembly once again passed a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from Syria’s Golan Heights.

Syria says Israel and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri militant groups operating inside the Arab country. The Israeli regime has even set up field hospitals in the Golan Heights to treat wounded militants.