Extending Israeli Sovereignty to the Golan Heights Can Check Iranian Expansion https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2017/02/extending-israeli-sovereignty-to-the-golan-heights-can-check-iranian-expansion/

February 28, 2017 | Zvi Hauser
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At his meeting with Donald Trump earlier this month, Benjamin Netanyahu sought support for Israel’s formal annexation of the Golan, a territory it has held since 1967. Zvi Hauser argues that such a move would benefit both Israel and the U.S. (Free registration required.)

International recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, which makes up only 1 percent of what was until recently Syria, isn’t only in Israel’s interest, but above all in the interest of all those who wish to stabilize the region and block Iran’s growing influence in it. [Moreover], the moderate Sunni states won’t fight a move that means exacting a territorial price from the Shiite axis of evil.

[Ultimately], reality on the ground is stronger than past fixations. There is no horizon on the Golan Heights but the Israeli one. Neither [allowing] radical Sunni factions [in Syria to take the territory] nor [letting] the Iran-Hizballah-Assad alliance establish a foothold on the Sea of Galilee will contribute to stabilizing the region and rehabilitating it.

The international community must come to terms with the geostrategic implications of the Middle East’s collapse. The Middle East’s borders as we knew them in the last century are evaporating before our eyes. Recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan is a self-evident move in reshaping the region by the demarcation [of new borders]—especially in the Syrian-Iraqi area, which has irreversibly changed. . . .

American recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan . . . is a historic opportunity to coordinate expectations with the international community, under the leadership of the American administration and Congress.

Read more on Haaretz: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.772381