The Israeli Foreign Ministry decided this week to exclude the Golan Heights from the official itinerary of visiting foreign dignitaries.
“There is no reason to make someone visit certain sites when they come here,” Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin told Army Radio.
“If they want to go to the Golan, we won’t stop them. The decision is more because we no longer feel it is necessary or appropriate to plan a specific itinerary.”
Golan residents who oppose any withdrawal from the area as part of an eventual peace deal with Syria said the decision proves that the government has already given up on the Golan.
Labor Knesset member Avigdor Kahalani, who heads the Golan lobby in the Knesset, said he planned to introduce a bill that would make it more difficult for the government to make any territorial concessions on the Golan in its ongoing negotiations with Syria.
Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations have long been deadlocked over a Syrian demand that Israel withdraw completely from the Golan in return for peace with Syria.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has offered to make a phased withdrawal from the area. But he has called on Syria to first spell out the nature of the peace it envisions with Israel, a move Damascus has so far refused to make.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
