Assignment task:
On March 21, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that it was "time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights."[5] The move was welcomed by Israel. Dozens of people from the Druze community in the Golan Heights protested against Trump's announcement.
Four days later, on 25 March 2019, in a joint press conference in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump signed a proclamation stating that "the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights is part of the State of Israel.
The proclamation cited "aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, in southern Syria" as justification for Israel to maintain sovereignty over the Golan Heights as Israel has a "need to protect itself from Syria and other regional threats."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "What the President did with the Golan Heights is recognize the reality on the ground and the security situation necessary for the protection of the Israeli state. It's that - it's that simple." A State Department spokesperson said the day following the proclamation that "Israel gained control of the Golan through its legitimate response to Syrian aggression aimed at Israel's destruction.
Netanyahu said at the press conference following the announcement that "Israel won the Golan Heights in a just war of self-defense," referring to the 1967 war that began with Israel launching controversial pre-emptive strikes as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria began mobilizing troops towards its border. An anonymous Israeli official echoed Netanyahu's statement, telling The Washington Post that the recognition of the Golan Heights was justified since the occupied territory was gained in a "defensive war".
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that "the status of Golan has not changed." Syria called the move a "blatant attack" on its sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintained that it had a right to reclaim the territory. The state-owned news organization Syrian Arab News Agency reported that protests were held in several Syrian provinces against Trump's declaration. Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah, whose group was mentioned as a threat to Israel in the proclamation, stated that "resistance, resistance, and resistance" was the only way to take back the Israeli-occupied territories.
Using the cases that we covered in class and the relevant UNSC resolutions, make the case for both Israeli and Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Which country has the stronger argument? Why?