TEL AVIV – Israeli officials slammed the European Union over its “shameful” rejection of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights, despite President Donald Trump signing an order of recognition earlier this week.
In an English-language video message posted on Twitter, Education Minister Naftali Bennett attacked European countries, saying “Shame on you.”
He added that Israel would continue fighting radical Islam all over the world even though Europe doesn’t “deserve it.”
“The EU announced that it would not recognize the Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel,” Bennett said.
“We could add to that the fact that the EU does not recognize Jerusalem as our capital,” he said.
“The Golan Heights and Jerusalem and the Land of Israel has been the home of the Jewish people thousands of years before France was the home of the French and the United Kingdom the home of the British,” Bennett said.
“So we will continue building our amazing country. We will continue defending the free world from radical Islam, even though you do not deserve it,” he added.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon called EU officials “peace refuseniks.”
“We now allow those who keep the Iranian terror regime’s economy afloat to preach morality to us. Israel will not be held hostage by peace refuseniks and the policies of the Axis of Evil,” he said.
“The whole world knows that the Golan Heights is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel and the State of Israel,” Kahlon added.
However, head of the leftwing Meretz Party, MK Tamar Zandberg, asserted that U.S. recognition was a mistake since it introduced the issue on to the global agenda.
“Trump’s election gift to Bibi has started to cost us dearly. Now the EU is clarifying its position on the Golan Heights. Why did these demons have to be awakened on a subject that was not even on the table?” she said.
“Instead of making needless statements on the Golan Trump should publish his peace plan so that each party can relate to it,” she added.
The overall consensus in Israel, even among leftwing elements, is that the Golan Heights must remain a part of Israel since it is a strategic plateau critical to the country’s security.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Trump at the White House and witnessed the signing of a presidential order recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a move the Israeli leader said deserves “enormous applause.”