Intel: Why the US is warming to Israel’s hold on the Golan Heights

Departing US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley will switch up one annual tradition at the world body before she leaves her post, voting “no” on a resolution that calls on Israel to leave the occupied Golan Heights. In the past, the United States has simply abstained.

Why it matters: The Donald Trump administration has given Israel significant deference since taking office, including moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, which past presidents promised but never delivered.

But the move is also an effort to cue up a regional policy to quell the fallout from the destructive Syrian civil war. The United States is sending a signal that it’s not willing to help broker a deal on the Golan as long as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosts Iranian proxy groups in the war-torn country. Israel has tried to knock out Iranian ballistic missile sites that pose a cross-border threat.

“The resolution is plainly biased against Israel,” Haley said in a statement. “Further, the atrocities the Syrian regime continues to commit prove its lack of fitness to govern anyone. The destructive influence of the Iranian regime inside Syria presents major threats to international security.”