Jordanian FM to Pompeo: Israel must eventually withdraw from Golan



As Israel lobbies the US to recognize its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Jordan’s foreign minister on Tuesday presented his visiting American counterpart with an opposing view of the matter.
“International law regarding the Golan Heights is clear,” Ayman Safadi told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Amman. “Israel must withdraw from the region as part of a deal that will allow the rights of all sides to be maintained,” he said.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged visiting US National Security Adviser John Bolton to recognize Israel’s claim to the Golan.


Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981, in a move not recognized by the international community. In light of the civil war in Syria, Israel has in recent years stepped up its calls on friendly governments to recognize that it will never return the strategically important territory to the Assad regime. However, no allied country has done so.
During his meeting with Pompeo, Safadi said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the region’s central problem. He said that while Jordan and the US “don’t always agree on every issue, we will continue to work together to solve the region’s problems.”
Pompeo, meanwhile, stressed that the central threats to the region were posed by the Islamic State and Iran.
Also on Tuesday, Pompeo met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the royal palace in the capital of Amman.
The US secretary of state is meeting with US allies in the region, including Jordan, Egypt and several Gulf nations, to coordinate an anti-Iran campaign.
Pompeo’s trip comes amid confusion over conflicting statements by US President Donald Trump and senior US officials about a planned US troop withdrawal from Syria. Trump made the surprise announcement about a withdrawal last month, saying some 2,000 troops fighting alongside Syrian Kurdish allies in northeastern Syria against Islamic State would be pulled out soon. He did not give details, such as a timetable, leaving bewildered US partners in the region jockeying for influence over terms of a withdrawal.
Pompeo’s visit began as Bolton was set to depart Turkey without meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — an apparent snub over disagreements about the Kurdish fighters in Syria.