Netanyahu calls on world to recognize Israeli sovereignty in Golan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls on the world to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, saying if Israel were not there, Iran and its proxies would fill the void.

“Israel in the Golan is a justified reality based on ancient rights. Israel in the Golan is a fact the international community must recognize,” Netanyahu says at an event in the Golan.

“As long as it depends on me the Golan will always remain under Israeli sovereignty because otherwise we’d get Iran and Hezbollah on the edge of the Sea of Galilee.”

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and later extended sovereignty over the plateau in a move never recognized by the international community.

Netanyahu vows Israel will continue to work against Iranian efforts to set up establish itself in the Syrian Golan and prevent the transfer of “lethal weapons” to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

He says he will discuss these issues in his next meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin but does not indicate when this will be.

“I know President Putin understands my commitment to Israel’s security and I know he also understands the importance I ascribe to the Golan Heights, that all of us ascribe to the Golan Heights and Israel’s heritage,” the prime minister says.