Martin Indyk: 'Like it or not, Golan Heights are Syrian'

Background: 

Some years ago, when the left  was pushing an anti-Netanyahu story that  Netanyahu had encouraged  murderous violence against  then Prime Minister Rabin, Indyk  claimed that he had sat next to  Netanyahu  at Rabin’s funeral and then Indyk proceeded to  “report”  various inflammatory and vicious remarks which he attributed as being said to him directly  by Netanyahu.

 One the members of MIL-ED’s staff reviewed the media coverage of the funeral. He then contacted all of the photographers identified by the various media. As expected ,nearly all of them had  kept their  photo  proof sheets of the funeral. The thousands of pictures reviewed gave a continuous overview of the dynamics. In short form, they proved that Indyk had sat  several rows away from Netanyahu and during any mingling  before or after the funeral Indyk had never been anywhere near  Netanyahu.

 When this information was reported to  Brookings Institution's management by one of our members  who was well-known to them, their response was "this happened years ago… and anyway we don’t want to get in the middle of an argument.”

 In short form, Martin Indyk , from his perch at Bookings, has continued to be untrustworthy and  anti-Netanyahu. For example, Indyk  does not reference the Jewish property rights on the Golan that were extinguished by the French when they took over the mandate for Syria. 

Martin Indyk: 'Like it or not, Golan Heights are Syrian'

Ex-US ambassador: 'To recognize Israel’s annexation of territory that is not its own is to play with fire for partisan political purposes.'

Martin Indyk, former United States ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk asserted Monday evening, "Like it or not, the Golan Heights are Syrian territory."

"Israel cannot give them up now given its legitimate security concerns. But to recognize Israel’s annexation of territory that is not its own is to play with fire for partisan political purposes. No Arab state will accept it," he wrote on Twitter.

Indyk added that "It would also contravene the 1974 Israel-Syria Disengagement Agreement, which Netanyahu and Putin recently invoked to govern the resumption of Syrian government responsibilities on the Golan border with Israel."

He concluded, "Not that anyone in Trump or Netanyahu land cares, but for the US to recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights would be a direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which the United States co-authored, and Israel accepted."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday toured the Golan Heights with US Sen. Lindsey Graham and US Ambassador David Friedman.

Netanyahu told Graham, "This isn't your first visit to the Golan Heights, but I think every time you come here, you can appreciate the strategic importance of Israel's presence on the Golan Heights and the fact that we're creating a new life here, a green life, a future. It's very different from what was here before.

"The Golan Heights have always been part of Israel since the first days of our history, and it's definitely part of the State of Israel since 1967, and more recently, since 1981. The Golan Heights are part of Israel and must remain part of Israel forever. I think it's important that the international community recognize this fact and accept it, and especially our great friend, the United States," added Netanyahu.

Graham emphasized he would "return to the Senate in the United States and work with Senator Cruz to start a move to recognize the Golan as part of the State of Israel now and forever. Israel took control of this territory in a war for its existence. This area was taken by military force because it served as a launching pad to attack the State of Israel. There is rich Jewish history in this region."

"I stand on one of the most important places in the State of Israel strategically," added Graham.