The Legal Nature of Recognition in International Law: A Study of the Legitimacy of the United States Recognition of Israel's Power over the Syrian Golan Heights

Abstract

The decision of the United States (US) to recognize the sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights was announced to the world on March 25, 2019. This attracts hue and cries all over the world as the majority of the countries’ leaders, including the UN condemn the decision. The political scenario and the history of the occupation and ultimate Syrian Golan annexation remain complex. This is because the struggle to have access to water located in the Golan region alongside other issues seems sensitive are considered the significant factors responsible for the escalation of severe tensions between Syria and Israel, which ultimately spread to all parts of the region until 1967. Israel captured the Syrian Golan Heights (GH) after the 6-day war of 1967 and handed over control and administration of the territory to its military commanders. Israel annexed the occupied territory through its 1981 Golan Heights Law. Underpinned by a comprehensive review of the literature, this study finds that the US recognition of the power of Israel over the Syrian Golan Heights is a sheer disregard for the generally acceptable fundamental rules regarding international legal order, given that the claimed takeover of the Syrian Golan (SG) by Israel is unlawful and an outright breach of the principle of customary international law and Article 2(4) of the UN Charter forbidding territorial acquisition through the use of force or threat. The US recognition is tantamount to legitimatizing the once-common but now illegal practice of conquest and annexation. This recognition could be termed political recognition, with no legal recognition. It has no international legal effect, and it cannot legitimatize Israeli’s annexation of the territory in International Law.