UPDATE 2 - Trump: Time to recognize Israeli control of Golan

ADDS EXPERT COMMENT, NETANYAHU TWEET, BACKGROUND

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The time has come for the U.S. to recognize Israel's control of the occupied Golan Heights, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

"After 52 years, it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" Trump said on Twitter.

Momentum has been building on Capitol Hill for the U.S. to change its designation, and the State Department last week prompted questions about the matter when it changed its terminology for the first time on the contested territory, referring to it as "Israeli-controlled" instead of its former designation of "Israeli-occupied."

Israel has long sought Washington's recognition of its claim over the territory it seized from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. But past administrations have refused to grant the request.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump, saying on Twitter that the president "made history" with his declaration, which comes less than three weeks before Israel holds nationwide parliamentary elections.

But the suggestion that Trump's decision bears significant consequences was met with skepticism from at least one longtime Middle East observer.

Mark Perry, an unofficial advisor to now-deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said the U.S.'s policy change will be dismissed by Syria, the region, the international community and close U.S. allies in NATO.

"What the president said will have absolutely no impact on the reality in the Middle East," Perry said when asked if the move will affect regional stability, as the president claimed.

Israel occupies roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights as a result of the 1967 conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 -- an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.

Security Council Resolution 497 says the "Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect".

It further demanded Israel rescind its decision.

The U.S. for the first time voted against an annual UN resolution condemning Israel's control of the Golan Heights in November. In all, 151 nations voted in support, with just Israel and the U.S. voting against.

That historic U.S. vote, in hindsight, telegraphed Thursday's declaration.

“There’s no deep reasoning here at all. Israel says it, so we agree with it, and that’s it,” Perry said. “Our foreign policy is a disaster, and it's only a matter of time before we make a really bad mistake. This isn't a bad mistake. This is just stupid."