Al-Sharaa jokes with Trump about giving New Jersey to Israel

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that he jokingly asked US President Donald Trump to give New Jersey to Israel, since he owns it, while the Golan Heights belongs to its people.

Speaking at a discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, al-Sharaa said: “President Trump is a man who stood by Syria, supported it and issued a historic decision to lift sanctions on Syria.”

He added: “I respect him very much and I have a very special relationship with him.”  

Al-Sharaa said he once joked with Trump during a visit to the White House when the US president mentioned his recognition of the Golan Heights.

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“I told him, why don’t you give them New Jersey, if you are keen to give Israel some land,” he said.

“I think New Jersey belongs to the Democrats and they do not vote for President Trump, so it would be good to give it to them,” he added.

Al-Sharaa said: “Trump owns New Jersey, but he does not own the Golan Heights. Regardless of this joke, the Golan Heights belongs to its people, and neither a Syrian president nor a US president has the right to give it away to the other.”

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 United States and Colombia having recognised Israeli sovereignty over the area.

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