Barrack retracts comments on Golan Heights

Tom Barrack retracts his description of the Golan Heights as being occupied by Israel, stressing that Washington’s policy has not changed since Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory in 2019.

24 August, 2026 13:02

NEWSDESK

The U.S. special envoy to Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, said that his country’s policy toward the Golan Heights has not changed.

Barrack made the remarks in an interview with the Associated Press, commenting on an earlier statement in which he said that Israel occupies the Golan Heights.

Barrack said U.S. policy toward the Golan Heights was established by the U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019, stressing that the policy “has not changed.”

On March 25, 2019, Trump announced that the United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Retracting comments he made in a Friday interview, in which he said Israel keeps the area under occupation, Barrack said his remarks “were a description of the historical status of the area and were not an endorsement of the United Nations’ position on the Golan Heights.”

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, a move rejected by the United Nations, which declared it “null and void” under UN Security Council Resolution 497.

A-H

ANHA