[DAMASCUS] Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said US President Donald Trump “does not own the Golan Heights” and therefore cannot give them to Israel, reaffirming Damascus’ claim to the occupied territory in one of his clearest statements yet on the limits of ongoing Syrian-Israeli security negotiations.
Al-Sharaa made the remarks during an Atlantic Council event in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where he discussed his relationship with President Trump and the US position on the Golan Heights as Syria and Israel continue talks on security arrangements in southern Syria.
Al-Sharaa said he has a good relationship with President Trump and praised the US president’s role in supporting Syria and lifting sanctions, but said he directly challenged the president’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Recalling a previous meeting with President Trump during which al-Sharaa said he quipped, “Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You do not own the Golan Heights to give them away, but you do own New Jersey.”
He added: “Trump does not own the Golan Heights.”
The Syrian president stressed that the status of the Golan Heights is not a personal decision for either a Syrian or an American president to make. He said the territory “belongs to its people” and that no president has the right to give it up or transfer it to another party.
Al-Sharaa’s remarks come as Damascus simultaneously seeks a security agreement with Israel. He said the two sides have held several rounds of talks and at one stage had reached roughly “90%” of an agreement before Israel stepped back, according to his account.
He added that successful security arrangements could eventually open the door to broader discussions about a permanent peace.
However, al-Sharaa ruled out the idea that the current talks include negotiations over sovereignty on the Golan Heights, saying Damascus considers the territory part of Syria and does not regard its status as open for discussion.
Israel captured most of the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 war and applied its laws and administration to the territory in 1981.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 497, declaring Israel’s move “null and void and without international legal effect.” The United Nations continues to refer to the area as the occupied Syrian Golan.
In March 2019, President Trump broke with the prevailing international position when his administration formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
That recognition was not broadly accepted internationally, and the United Nations has continued to treat the territory’s status in accordance with its previous resolutions.
Al-Sharaa’s comments clarify Damascus’ position: It is negotiating security arrangements with Israel to ease tensions in southern Syria while maintaining its longstanding claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
The United States has been pushing for arrangements aimed at reducing tensions between Damascus and Israel, while military deployments, border issues, buffer zones, and the future of Israeli forces inside Syrian territory remain among the main points of dispute.
Al-Sharaa’s comments therefore appear to set a clear boundary for Damascus at a sensitive stage of negotiations: Syria may be prepared to discuss security and potentially reshape its relationship with Israel, but it says that does not mean abandoning its claim to the Golan Heights.
