The US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack appeared to reverse his previous comments on the status of the Golan Heights in recent days, backing the US recognition of the area as Israeli territory in a statement to the Associated Press on Sunday.
“United States policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged,” he said, contradicting his claim in an interview with Mario Nawfal on Friday where he stated that Israel occupies the Golan Heights.
“They still occupy the Golan against the UN resolutions, against all of the international order, which has said the Golan is Syria’s,” Barrack said then, despite the US having recognized the area as Israeli for almost a decade.
The interview took place against the backdrop of Israel's strike on the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib last week. Israel claimed that Turkish troops were ready to deploy at the base, a claim that Turkey denied.
Syrian negotiations primarily on Israeli withdrawal from areas besides Golan
Israel conquered the Golan Heights in the Six-Day War, annexing the area by law in 1981. UN Security Council resolution 497, passed only days later, rejected the annexation as "null and void."
In 2019, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli, as a part of pro-Israel moves including the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the US embassy there.
Syria never rescinded its claim to the Golan Heights, and after Ahmed al-Sharaa took power in December of 2024, the question the area's status entered the spotlight once again.
During negotiations between Israel and Syrian officials in Jordan on Sunday, the Syrian delegation asked to separate negotiations over the Golan Heights, appearing to prioritize the matter of Israel's withdrawal from areas captured after December 2024.
Barrack said strike on Syria may have been political
Barrack condemned Israel's strikes on the Idlib airbase, calling them "serious and worrisome."
In Friday's interview, Barrack suggested that Israel may have intended to provoke a faceoff with Turkey through its strike. Barrack also said the strike could have had political motives, with Israeli elections scheduled for October.
Following the attack, Barrack said the US would work to establish a deconfliction mechanism between Israel, Turkey, and Syria, insisting that increased communication would be necessary to prevent violence.
“Syria has demonstrated itself to be a responsible and stable sovereign neighbor, and a carefully structured de-escalation arrangement would contribute significantly to greater calm and predictability across the region,” Barrack told The Jerusalem Post.
Amichai Stein and Reuters contributed to this report.