Israel responded to a statement by the US government on sovereignty in the Golan Heights today, Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told CNN on Monday that the Golan Heights were “very important to Israel’s security” but that “issues of legitimacy are of a different order”.

“If the situation in Syria changes over time, it is something we will study,” Blinken said, noting that US President Biden had not spoken to the Israeli prime minister since taking office on January 20.

“Israel’s position is clear. “In any future scenario, the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli rule,” an official in the Israeli prime minister’s office told the State Department on Tuesday.

It is noted that the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed in March 2019 a decree officially recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which was officially annexed in 1981.

Syria had then called Trump’s decree “a blatant attack.” in its sovereignty. The international community has never recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the region.

The Golan Heights, a natural border between the two countries, belonged to Syria until 2/3 of the area was occupied by Israel in the Seven Days War in 1967.