Syria's president suggested that Trump give New Jersey to Israel

Syria's transitional president Ahmed al-Sharaa jokingly suggested to U.S. leader Donald Trump that he give the state of New Jersey to Israel, as the heads of the two states were discussing the situation surrounding the occupied Golan Heights.

"And I have developed an absolutely unique relationship with him (Trump – ed.). But once, when I came to see him at the White House, I made a joke. When he was talking about the Golan Heights, saying that they are under Israel's sovereignty, I asked: 'Why don't you give New Jersey to the Israelis? The Golan Heights aren't yours to give away [to anyone], but New Jersey is yours. As far as I know, it's full of Democrats who don't vote for Trump. So it would be nice to give it to the Israelis. At least it's something that belongs to you, whereas President Trump doesn't have the Golan Heights,'" al-Sharaa said, speaking at an event organized in New York by the Atlantic Council.

He stated that the Golan Heights belong to Syria. "So, regardless of this joke, the Golan Heights belong to their own people. Therefore, neither the Syrian president, nor the American president, nor anyone else has the right to renounce them or hand them over to others," the Syrian leader concluded.

The Golan Heights, which had belonged to Syria since 1944, were seized by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967; in 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the territory, an action declared null and void by Resolution 497 of the UN Security Council on December 17, 1981. In 2019, during his first presidential term, Trump recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, signing a corresponding proclamation. Not only Syria and other countries of the Arab and Islamic world spoke out against such unilateral actions by Washington, but also Russia, as well as key European powers and U.S. allies, including Germany and France.

Source: TASS