Syrian Minister Threatens ‘Resistance’ to Capture Golan Heights

Reacting to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration on Sunday that Israel plans to retain the Golan Heights forever, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad has warned that Syria is prepared to use “all possible ways” to capture the Golan, including military means.

“The Syrian Golan is an occupied Arab land according to the UN Security Council’s resolutions, and the presence of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Forces proves this,” Miqad told the Lebanon-based TV channel al-Mayadeen, the Jerusalem Post reported.

“We have never renounced the resistance and we are ready to recapture the Golan in all possible ways, including military ways. Israel wants to provoke us, but we will never surrender,” Miqdad added.

At an historic special cabinet session convened in the Golan Heights on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the territory will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty.

Netanyahu used the occasion to say that he transmitted that same message to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, seemingly hinting that the U.S. was considering a Syrian demand to place the Golan on the bargaining table as part of a larger accommodation in Syria.

According to Netanyahu’s office, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad demanded that international peace talks to find a solution to the insurgency in Syria must include an agreement in which the Golan Heights is considered occupied territory to be handed over to Syria.

According to a report on Israel’s Channel Two TV station, Netanyahu was concerned that a draft resolution concerning the Syria conflict might include a declaration that the entire Golan Heights belongs to Syria.

At the cabinet meeting in the Golan on Sunday, Netanyahu declared: “The time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain forever under Israeli sovereignty.”

In November, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported the Obama administration rejected the possibility of U.S. recognition of the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.