Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa invoked New Jersey while discussing the much-disputed Golan Heights and US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.
Speaking at an Atlantic Council panel in New York on Tuesday, September 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, al-Sharaa discussed Syria’s relations with Israel, direct negotiations between the two countries and the future of the Golan Heights.
‘Why don't you give New Jersey to the Israelis?’
Al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander, recalled an undated conversation with Trump during a visit to the White House. He said he joked about Trump’s position on the Golan Heights by comparing the territory to the US state of New Jersey, a stronghold of the Democratic Party.
"President Trump stood to the side of Syria, supported Syria and issued a historic resolution or decision to lift sanctions off Syria, and I have a very unique relationship with him," al-Sharaa said.
"But once, when I visited him in the White House, I made a joke with him."
"When he said about the Golan Heights that Israel has sovereignty, I said, 'Why don't you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You don't own the Golan Heights to give it to them, but you own New Jersey, and I believe New Jersey is full of Democrats, and they are not voting for Trump. So it will be good to give it to the Israelis.'"
"At least this is something that you own," he continued. "President Trump doesn't own the Golan Heights."
"Regardless of this joke, the Golan Heights belong to their own people," he said in a serious tone. "It is neither the Syrian president nor the American president nor any other person who can abandon them or give them up to others."
