Netanyahu Visits Occupied Golan, Surprised by 'Deal' Questions
Netanyahu's recent photo op with Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights, as reported by Al Jazeera, prompts a question about stalled peace deals with Syria. This isn't exactly new; successive Israeli governments have consistently asserted permanent control over the territory, annexed unilaterally in 1981—a move the UN Security Council swiftly condemned as 'null and void' (UN Resolution 497).
The U.S. recognized this annexation in 2019, fueling further expansion. One might wonder when exactly Syria was expected to negotiate away its sovereign territory. This visit, far from being a diplomatic misstep, is consistent with a decades-long strategy of settlement expansion and territorial consolidation. To ask if a deal is 'off the table' implies there was ever a coherent,
internationally-backed plan for its return, rather than a slow, illegal creep of annexation.