Special envoy to Turkey and Syria, Barrack, issued a statement to clarify remarks he made during an interview last week about the Golan Heights. He had previously suggested that Israel still occupied the territory in violation of UN resolutions, a view that conflicted with President Trump’s official policy.
Barrack explained that his comments were meant to describe the complexity of the situation, not to propose a new negotiating table, according to israelnationalnews.com. He emphasized that US policy on the Golan Heights was unchanged since President Trump signed Proclamation 9852 in March 2019, according to a report from clevelandjewishnews.com.
That Proclamation 9852 recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a move that drew criticism from various international actors. The territory was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War and formally annexed in 1981, The Hill reported.
Barrack also criticized recent Israeli strikes on an airbase in northern Syria, which he said were part of a broader regional challenge. He noted that Hezbollah is a designated foreign terrorist organization and that the US does not negotiate with such groups.
The comments came during an interview with Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur Mario Nawfal, which sparked further discussion in Washington. In the same interview, Barrack also addressed Israel’s presence in Lebanon and its ongoing military operations there.
Colombia became the second country to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in August 2026. The US government has long maintained that it does not consider the occupied territory as part of Israel and does not recognize its annexation.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz defended the recent strike on the Abu Duhur airbase in Syria, saying critics had changed their minds after intelligence was released. Katz also criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for comments suggesting that Israel’s security could be threatened by Turkey’s presence in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkey has been working to rehabilitate the airbase, which had been out of service since 2013. Turkey and Syria have denied that Turkish forces were deployed to the base, which had been inactive since clashes between rebels and former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military.
The United States has consistently supported Israel’s right to defend its borders but has also maintained that the Golan Heights are not internationally recognized as part of Israel. Barrack’s clarification came amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to manage tensions in the region and reduce conflict between Syria and Israel.
IMAGE: Strip and Golan Heights DNR Art Department