--:-- Sean Rameswaram: A quick note about KiwiCo before we start the show. KiwiCo wants to give you today, Explained listeners, a chance to try their educational projects out for free. You can redeem the offer and learn more about the projects for kids of all ages at KiwiCo.com slash Explained.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You might have noticed there's a lot going on with Israel right now. A new round of fighting just broke out between the country and Hamas in Gaza. The APAC conference is wrapping up right now in our backyard here in DC. Pompeo, Pence, Netanyahu, Schumer – they've already spoken. Yesterday, President Trump made last week's tweets official. He is breaking with decades of U.S. policy on the Golan Heights.
--:-- Joyce Karam: In a moment, I will sign a presidential proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereign right over the Golan Heights. It's a very big deal. It's the first time in the Middle East that the United States government issues such a unilateral declaration, giving sovereignty over an occupied land.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Joyce Karam covers Washington for The National. A large English daily based in Abu Dhabi. Even though the Golan Heights is a small piece of territory home to only 50,000 or so people, Joyce says this move by President Trump might fundamentally change the Middle East.
--:-- Joyce Karam: It's very dismissive of the history of the binding resolutions issued by the UN repeatedly throughout the last few decades on the Golan Heights. And it's breaking with all past U.S. presidents in recognizing an occupied area without negotiations, without a due process, without even going to the United Nations.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Where do we begin with that history? We could begin when we talk about the Golan Heights in the 1967 war.
--:-- Joyce Karam: War preparations were stepped up in the Middle East today, even as the diplomats worked to try to preserve peace. In Cairo itself, Muslim preachers declared today that it is Allah's command that Arabs destroy Israel.
--:-- Joyce Karam: The sound you hear is the Cairo rally in early June 1967, as Gamal Abdel Nasser asked the Arab nations for vengeance and victory in a holy war against Israel.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: The Arabs were planning the first strike. It was Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan believing that they could go to war and liberate Palestine. But Israel took a preemptive move and bombed Egyptian Air Force.
--:-- Joyce Karam: On Monday, the Israelis took the Gaza Strip and started their push into the Sinai Desert. They also began encircling old Jerusalem. On Tuesday, the Israeli army had carved out a large area of the Sinai. On Wednesday, the Israeli drive was almost complete in Jordan. And tonight, the Israeli army stands on one shore of the Suez Canal.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It has increased its hold on the Sinai and remains triumphant in Jordan and Jerusalem. After that war and the aftermath, Israel occupied the Golan Heights and Syria, Sinai in Egypt, the West Bank, and Gaza.
--:-- Joyce Karam: So following the war, UN issued resolutions 242 and 338 calling for withdrawal from those lands. Syria went again to war in 1973 to get back the Golan Heights. They failed. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. And since then, Syrian nationals who lived in the Golan Heights were offered Israeli citizenship.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: How does the world react to that annexation? Nobody was happy with it. Even the Ronald Reagan administration condemned it. But Israel stayed there.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Was annexing the Golan legal? No. I mean, annexation is not legal of occupied territory, whether it's in the Middle East, whether it's in Crimea. Yeah. This is a red line, and that's why yesterday's order is very controversial.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: From a regional stability perspective, from a geopolitical, from an international law perspective, this decision just doesn't fly.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Why was this piece of territory so strategic for Israel or for Syria? Was it more than just a piece of territory?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It definitely more than a piece of territory. I mean, the Golan Heights when you look at it, it's not that big. It's the size almost of Oklahoma City. So not huge. It's not huge. However, it's high up, so you've got elevation that's important for security.
--:-- Joyce Karam: It's a very green, fertile area, and it's mountainous. There is ski resorts, actually. Okay. It's also very rich in water. You have the Sea of Galilee there, and then you have the Jordan River.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: The negotiations between Syria and Israel over the last few decades, over the Golan, had a lot to do with the water resources there. Also, Israel, you know, wanted to have extra territory to be able to negotiate a larger peace deal with Syria that would include Syrian support for Iranian groups or Hamas or others.
--:-- Joyce Karam: And President Trump brought in the defense element into that order that he signed. The state of Israel took control of the Golan Heights in 1967 to safeguard its security from external threats.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Okay, so you've got security, huge, important water resources, and this sort of critical bargaining chip for future peace deals between Israel and various other countries in the East.
--:-- Joyce Karam: What about the people there? Who lives in the Golan Heights? It was mostly Syrians before the 1967 war. And it's small towns, small villages, mostly inhabited by Druze, which is a small minority in the Middle East.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: After the annexation, more Israelis came in, more settlement building. So it became a mix.
--:-- Joyce Karam: And who are the Druze, the community of people who live there? So the Druze are a very interesting minority in the Middle East. They're an offshoot of Islam, although some Muslims don't consider them Muslim.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: They don't fast Ramadan, for example, but they celebrate Atah. They're more a mix, their literature between Hinduism and Islam and Christianity. But they have their own traditions. They have their own holidays.
--:-- Joyce Karam: But they just were able to craft a path of their own when we talk about cultural heritage or even religious and political in the Middle East.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And there's only something like 50,000 people there. How many of those are Druze? The numbers I've seen say 20,000. But overall in the Middle East, I think that the minority is around a million.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Are they Israelis? Are they Syrians? Are they neither?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Well, because of the instability in Syria, because of the conflict there, it added to those people's dilemma. A lot of the Druze inside the Golan Heights, when they talk about their heritage, they view themselves as Syrian.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Do they want to return to Syria and be in the middle of clashes? Not really. Do they see themselves as Israeli? The new generation more so. But the elders, the people who've been there before 67, they see themselves very much as Syrians. They see their territory as Syrians.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So that adds to the dilemma over Monday's decision.
--:-- Joyce Karam: We've been seeing protests against Trump's tweet. At the same time, we've seen higher numbers of the Druze in the Golan Heights seek to become Israeli citizens because of the instability inside Syria.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So even the Druze themselves are divided on this decision?
--:-- Joyce Karam: Yeah. I mean, it's a dilemma. It's people who, you know, like many in the Middle East, they don't choose their political circumstances. They end up where they are most of the time because of wars.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: For these people who are in the Golan Heights, they just want peace. However, I mean, if you think about the decision itself on Monday, there is fear, there is concern that this would trigger the reaction that nobody wanted.
--:-- Joyce Karam: That this could destroy the cold peace that we've known for decades between Syria and Israel, and that could bring the Golan Heights, where these communities live, to the center of an Israeli conflict or between Hezbollah and Israel.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Knowing what you know, knowing Hezbollah presence is there, knowing that this is an area that been stable for so long, why go ahead and trigger something like this?
--:-- Joyce Karam: All right, so a quick note about KiwiCo and their educational projects before we return to the show.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Every project that comes in the mail, these crates, they include all the supplies you need, detailed, easy to follow instructions, and an educational magazine to learn even more about that project's theme.
--:-- Joyce Karam: They just put out one about STEAM. You know, some time ago, KiwiCo sent us a project and I wanted to know how a young person would feel about it. So I asked Luke Vanderplug, who at the time was the second youngest member of our team.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yeah, I think the box that I was handed was about whales. Seemed pretty cool. You know, submerge, come up, submerge, educational and fun.
--:-- Joyce Karam: KiwiCo is offering Today Explained listeners the chance to try them out for free. To redeem the offer and learn more about their projects for kids of all ages, Just visit KiwiCo.com slash explained.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That is one more time. KiwiCo.com slash explained.
--:-- Joyce Karam: So why did President Trump recognize the Golan now?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yeah, good question, Joyce. I've thought about it. I mean, is it the withdrawal, the U.S. withdrawal from Syria that they want to assure Israel defensively? Or is it related to the Israeli elections we're going to see in two weeks?
--:-- Joyce Karam: I would think for now it's the latter. It's, you know, Mr. Trump's ally, Netanyahu, is facing a close election, and he's been a steady ally for the U.S. president.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I mean, he called him my friend Donald on Monday. Our dear friend Donald. It was odd.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Also, Netanyahu, in his remarks, he referenced biblical Israel. And the Jewish people's roots in the Golan go back thousands of years. And that's just an odd reference when you're talking about politics, when you're talking about communities who live there, when you're talking about the modern Middle East.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But that, again, makes it more about the Israeli election. Is it enough to give Bibi Netanyahu a win and have him form the next coalition? We'll find out on April 9.
--:-- Joyce Karam: But it's unprecedented in how much Trump has gone to help Bibi Netanyahu, the Jerusalem embassy decision, sanctioning the Palestinians.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Right. It's a new precedent.
--:-- Joyce Karam: How does Trump recognizing the Golan as, you know, firmly Israeli territory help Netanyahu in this upcoming election?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It would help him with voters in the Golan Heights. It would help him with the far right and the right wing. Who believe in greater Israel, who want more annexation.
--:-- Joyce Karam: But it also shows, given Donald Trump's popularity inside Israel, that the two are close friends, buddies almost. I mean, they were wearing the same tie. I saw that.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: There's been billboards from the Netanyahu campaign showing Trump and Bibi together. Donald Trump has capitalized on, you know, how Barack Obama was perceived in Israel. How is Barack Obama perceived in Israel?
--:-- Joyce Karam: Not so popular because he called for a settlement freeze because he did the nuclear deal with Iran. Donald Trump reversed all of this. Right. So he's seen, you know, as Bibi said, the best friend of Israel and the White House now.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So it makes complete sense for Netanyahu to want this, for Netanyahu to ask for it. Why is Netanyahu in such need of help from Trump in Israel?
--:-- Joyce Karam: Because of the polls. I mean, as you know, he's facing indictment over corruption, over bribery. Police accused Netanyahu of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts, including cigars, champagne, jewelry and flattering media coverage in exchange for backing legislation to help wealthy businessmen.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Yet he could still win. He also been a prime minister since I think 2009. So many would like to see a change. We seen his main rival Benny Gantz address AIPAC in Washington. His lead is not as comfortable as his party would like.
--:-- Joyce Karam: It would be a big defeat if he is actually defeated on April 9. It would be a defeat also for the U.S. that has put all of its chips in Netanyahu's basket.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So what's Trump getting out of it? Good question. I don't know. Maybe a hand from Netanyahu in the 2020 elections. Maybe cornering the Democrats on the Jewish vote.
--:-- Joyce Karam: We've seen more references from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. While he was visiting Israel, he criticized Ilhan Omar on the accusations that she made anti-Semitic comments.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Sadly, we in the United States have seen anti-Semitic language uttered even in the gray halls of our own capital. This should not be.
--:-- Joyce Karam: Another thing that's important in this equation is the evangelical community, the evangelical vote in the United States. Very much like moving the embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan just confirms this biblical view of Israel and they should all go well with the evangelical vote.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And all he gave away in return for that potential boost is recognizing an illegally annexed territory? That's that's it seems like a big trade-off. It's a huge trade-off. I mean, I and that's why I don't really understand the geopolitical reasoning behind it.
--:-- Joyce Karam: When you look today even U.S. allies in the region, you know, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan – they're all condemning Turkey, Iran people who are uh you know rivals in the Middle East have come together in condemning this decision.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It damages the U.S. standing by just, you know, putting them in one camp in the Middle East. And I'm not entirely sure how that would help the peace process.
--:-- Joyce Karam: I mean, will Arabs now come and embrace the so-called deal of the century that the administration will put on the table? This makes it much more unlikely.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And the U.S. has sanctions against Russia for the annexation of Crimea, do those sanctions carry less water because in the Golan they're saying, hey, it's yours?
--:-- Joyce Karam: Oh, it's very hypocritical. You can't go and sanction Russia for annexing Crimea and then go and recognize Israel's sovereignty over annexed Golan Heights.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Given that that's exactly what the United States just did, what does this move by the U.S. mean for the peace process between Israel and its neighbors?
--:-- Joyce Karam: I mean, no matter how you look at the Trump administration strategy, it's a complete reversal of all past administrations. You've never seen anything like this.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: OK, you want to recognize the Golan Heights? How about go to the UN? Seek a resolution. You want to move the embassy to Jerusalem? How about also open talks about it, like discuss with the Palestinians?
--:-- Joyce Karam: Right now, you don't have any U.S. Palestinian talks. Past U.S. administrations, the way they made peace in the Middle East, for example, Jimmy Carter, he pressured Israel. And he did get the Camp David agreement.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: The first Arab-Israeli open talks were under George H. Bush. And how did he do it? He also pressured Israel.
--:-- Joyce Karam: So right now you have a team in place that they believe that they could do the complete opposite in achieving peace, which is pressuring the Palestinians. It's a big gamble, and we'll see if it actually will lead to peace or to more regional instability.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Joyce Karam reports on U.S. politics for The National. I'm Sean Rameswaram. This is Today Explained. Thank you.
