Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Türkiye and special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, on Sunday retracted his acknowledgment of Israel’s illegal occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights amid mounting Republican calls for his resignation.
Directly contradicting Trump’s formal recognition of Israel’s unlawful 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights, Barrack said during a Friday interview with podcaster Mario Nawfal that Israel would face difficulties if it moved to unlawfully annex parts of southern Lebanon it invaded and currently occupies.
“In the Golan with Syria, they still occupy the Golan against the [United Nations] resolutions, against all of the international order, which has said the Golan is Syria’s,” Barrack noted. He also floated the possibility that last week’s Israeli strike on an air base in northwestern Syria may have been an attempt at “baiting” Türkiye.
Israel invaded and captured the strategically important Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in 1967, ethnically cleansing more than 100,000 Syrians and eventually annexing the conquered territory, a move unanimously rejected by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497. Since then, tens of thousands of Israeli settlers have unlawfully colonized the Syrian territory.
UN Security Council Resolution 242 demands that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights and all occupied Palestinian territories as well.
No country recognized Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights until US President Donald Trump did so during his first term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed his appreciation for the move by naming one of the dozens of illegal Jewish settlements in the territory Trump Heights.
Barrack subsequently reversed himself, telling The Associated Press on Sunday that “United States policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged."
This, as Israeli leaders denounced Barrack’s remarks and Republican politicians and pundits called for his firing or resignation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the ambassador’s comments were “full of inaccuracies” and “contradict the position of Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights.”
US Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said on X: “The Senate confirmed [Barrack] to enact the PRESIDENT’S AGENDA, which millions of Americans voted for. It seems the ambassador forgot that or failed to do his research, so here’s a refresher for him… President Trump has been CLEAR about Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights for years!”
Far-right provocateur and Trump confidant Laura Loomer called Barrack “absolutely brain dead.”
“Tom Barrack is hands down the most retarded ambassador nominated by President Trump,” she contended. “He should resign for his lack of understanding of US foreign policy.”
Meanwhile, some experts positively noted Barrack’s short-lived acknowledgment of what the international community has long maintained.
“[Barrack] said the Golan is occupied Syrian land under UN resolutions. That is simply what the UN says. It has said it since 1967. Most of the world agrees,” political analyst Michael Arizanti said on X.
“Israel’s foreign minister said his remarks were full of inaccuracies,” he continued. “Professional lunatic Laura Loomer demanded he resign and claimed he was compromised by Arab money, with no evidence at all! Sen. Rick Scott told him to do his research. And because Barrack had criticized Israel’s strike on a Syrian air base the week before, he was accused of siding with the bad guys.”
“Four attacks,” Arizanti added. “Not one about the actual policy!”
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