The president’s announcement on the Golan Heights will finally free us from the “land for peace” formula that none of us believe in anyway.
TEL AVIV — On Thursday evening here in Israel, after President Trump announced that “it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights” and our prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked the president for his “historic” decision, I wanted to talk to someone I trusted on the issue, someone with perspective. So I contacted Zvi Hauser.
Mr. Hauser was a cabinet secretary under Mr. Netanyahu and is running for the Knesset on behalf of the Kahol Lavan Party, which wants to unseat the prime minister in the April 9 general election. He is also a longtime proponent of America’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
With less than three weeks until Election Day, Mr. Hauser keeps his priorities straight. He knows that Mr. Netanyahu will get credit from the public for the United States’ recognition of Israel’s control of the Golan — something many Israelis have wanted for a long time. He understands that the president intervened to boost Mr. Netanyahu’s chances in a tight race. Still, Mr. Hauser was happy. He called the move “a turning point in the annals of the Middle East” and said he wanted to “thank President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Mr. Hauser was not alone among Mr. Netanyahu’s rivals in praising Mr. Trump’s decision. Across the Israeli political spectrum (with some obvious exceptions), politicians are supportive of America recognizing Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.
Indeed, Mr. Trump’s statement on Thursday was a major development. It is the final nail in the coffin of the 1967 line — the armistice line that separated Israel from its neighbors before the Six Days War. More than 50 years since this line was crossed by the Israeli military, we can finally kiss it goodbye.
