{"id":184416,"date":"2019-03-01T08:37:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T08:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=184416"},"modified":"2019-03-04T08:09:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T08:09:01","slug":"with-oil-water-and-iran-as-targets-us-on-brink-of-recognizing-israeli-sovereignty-over-golan-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=184416","title":{"rendered":"With Oil, Water and Iran as Targets, US on Brink of Recognizing Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whitney Webb \u2013 Mint Press Feb 27 ,2019<\/h1>\n
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, talks with Israeli soldiers at a military outpost during a visit at Mount Hermon in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights overlooking the Israel-Syria border on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. (AP Photo\/Baz Ratner, Pool)<\/p><\/div>\n

A new bill<\/a><\/strong><\/span> recently introduced in the Senate, along with its companion bill in the House, would result in the United States government recognizing Israel\u2019s sovereignty over Syria\u2019s Golan Heights, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967. The territory was later annexed in 1981, but the international community \u2014 including the United States \u2014 has not recognized Israel\u2019s claim to the Syrian territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the bill would also promote<\/strong><\/span><\/a> the U.S. conducting \u201cjoint projects\u201d with Israel in the Golan, including \u201cindustrial research and development.\u201d This is sure to result in joint U.S.-Israeli efforts to extract the large oil reserves recently discovered in the Golan Heights, as the rights to extract that oil were granted<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to the joint U.S.-Israeli venture Genie Energy soon after its discovery was made public.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move to introduce legislation regarding the contested territory has been hinted at for months by top Israeli officials, especially following the decision of the Trump administration to unilaterally recognize the city of Jerusalem as belonging exclusively to Israel and as being that country\u2019s capital.<\/span><\/p>\n

Working the Iran angle<\/h2>\n

Last May, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Reuters<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span> that Washington\u2019s endorsement of Israel\u2019s control of the Golan Heights was now \u201ctopping the agenda\u201d in bilateral diplomatic talks between the two countries, and that such a move would likely come within a matter of months, though it apparently took longer than Katz had originally anticipated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Katz also had stated that U.S. recognition of the Golan was being peddled to the Trump administration as a way to further counter Iran, the goal that has now become the guiding force behind President Donald Trump\u2019s Middle East policy. In addition, Katz had stated that bilateral discussions regarding U.S. recognition of the Golan had vastly expanded to involve various levels of the U.S. administration as well as several Congressmen<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The effort to which Katz alluded last year appears to have paid off in the form of the recently introduced bills in both the House and the Senate. The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is the top Republican recipient<\/strong><\/span><\/a> of pro-Israel lobby contributions in the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who is also heavily funded by the pro-Israel lobby. Indeed, Cotton received<\/a><\/strong><\/span> over $700,000 from the Emergency Committee for Israel in 2014 and nearly $1 million<\/strong><\/span><\/a> from that same group a year later.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Today @SenTomCotton<\/a>, @RepGallagher<\/a> & I today introduced companion bills establishing that it shall be the policy of the United States to recognize Israel\u2019s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. –> https:\/\/t.co\/G5sHtAecZQ<\/a><\/p>\n

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 26, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n