Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane left Washington for Israel last night. The prime minister cut short his visit to the US capital because of the security situation in Israel. He is due to land in Israel this afternoon.
Netanyahu expressed anger yesterday as he was taking off from Washington at the fact that US President Trump's declaration of US recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory did not, in his view, receive appropriate coverage. Israeli media have been more concerned in the past twenty-four hours with the immediate threat to Israeli security in the shape of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
"The most important principle in international life is that when you start wars with aggression and you lose territory, don't come claiming it afterwards," Netanyahu said.
"It belongs to us, we have historical foundations on the Golan Heights. When you stick in a hoe there you uncover splendid synagogues that we are restoring. We have returned to the Golan. The Golan is ours. By historic right and by the right of self-defense. And President Trump recognized that."
Netanyahu continued to rail against the media that focused on the security situation and did not headline the achievement in relation to the Golan Heights. "That you haven't covered this more than a minute is something you will be held to account for, but in the reckoning of history. I am returning to Israel to deal with the important matters. We are returning to deal with things. I'm taking the plane back to Israel fast, and from there I'll go straight to military headquarters," Netanyahu said.
On Israel's response in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said, "We gave a very, very powerful response, and Hamas needs to know that we shall not hesitate to take all steps required."
Yesterday, President Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, as Israeli territory, a move he signaled in a tweet last Thursday.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 26, 2019
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