BICOM

Arab leaders criticised the US decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights at a summit in Tunis yesterday, despite growing tensions between the 22 member states.

In a final statement the Arab League summit said it: “Affirmed that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory according to international law, the decisions of the United Nations and the Security Council”. A separate statement called the US move “invalid and illegitimate”.

Arab League Secretary General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told a closing news conference: “It is true that America is the strongest military force in the world, but its decision is absolutely worthless.” He added that Arab countries would present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council and seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the US decision.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also addressed the meeting, said any resolution to the Syrian conflict must guarantee the territorial integrity of Syria “including the occupied Golan Heights”.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said his country: “Absolutely rejects any measures which could affect Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan” and reiterated his support for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Arab League also said they will supply the Palestinian Authority with a financial safety net in response to an Israeli law that deducts money from Palestinian tax revenues. The Palestine Liberation Organisation thanked the Arab league for helping “Palestine overcome the debilitating financial strains caused by Israel’s illegal piracy of Palestinian tax revenues”.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claimed that: “Irresponsible US policies and actions have encouraged the Israeli political establishment, which is overrun by right wing, racist, and hostile actors, to exercise unchecked violence against the Palestinian people”.

The Tunis summit took place against the backdrop of other deep divisions inside the Arab League, as it struggles with the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf and conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani left the meeting after the opening ceremony, the Gulf state’s official QNA news agency reported, without giving any further details. It was the first time in two years the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been in attendance since Saudi Arabia imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha after accusing it of supporting extremist groups in the region and for its relationship with Iran.