Tunisia says to coordinate Arab response to US move on Golan Heights

“We will work with fellow Arab countries and the international community to contain the expected repercussions of this decision in the various regional and international forums,” Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said without elaborating during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the capital Tunis on Friday evening, two days before the annual Arab League summit.

In 1967, Israel waged a full-scale war against Arab territories, during which it occupied some two-thirds of Syria’s Golan Heights and annexed the region four years later, a move never recognized by the international community.

On Monday, however, Trump took a markedly controversial move by proclaiming the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, triggering an international outcry particularly among the Arab nations.

Although Arab League spokesman Mahmoud Afifi has said the bloc would seek to issue a proclamation on Trump’s Golan declaration on Sunday, experts expect little more than a condemnation statement.

“It will be just a very strong, theatrical, nice, maybe strong statement,” said Ahmed Abd Rabou, a visiting professor of international affairs at the University of Denver, expressing doubt that any Arab League statement “will have a true political effect.”

Arab leaders responded similarly to the US president's other contentious decision last year to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” — with nothing more than statements condemning the move.

Many, including Iran, Russia, Lebanon and Palestinian factions, have unanimously denounced Washington’s move. The European Union has also said it will continue to view the territory as occupied.

Furthermore, a Wednesday meeting of the UN Security Council turned into another stage for the isolation of the US, as other countries on the council opposed Trump’s move on the occupied Golan Heights.

Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.