Syrian president to Trump: ‘Give New Jersey to Israel, not Golan Heights’

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa told the United Nations on Thursday that the contested Golan Heights region would “remain Syrian” despite ongoing military occupation by Israel.

Speaking at an Atlantic Council panel in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, al-Sharaa recounted an exchange he had with US President Donald Trump in which he questioned Trump’s decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Al-Sharaa said he once joked with Trump during a visit to the White House: “Why don’t you give them New Jersey, if you are keen to give Israel some land?”

Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 war and declared its annexation in 1981.

The UN rejected the move under Security Council Resolution 497, which declared it “null and void”.

Most countries consider the Golan Heights Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation, with the US and Colombia having recognised Israeli sovereignty over the area.

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