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ongressman Ron DeSantis, a Republican representing Florida’s 6th District, was part of the delegation that arrived for the opening ceremony of the American embassy in Jerusalem. “It was a historic occasion and I was honored to be there,” he told Mishpacha. “Ambassador Friedman acknowledged my efforts and those of Congress to push for the relocation of the embassy. It was a very special occasion, something I’ll always remember.”

After the embassy move, 39-year-old DeSantis, a former Navy lawyer and Tea Party conservative, is racing ahead to the next step: American recognition for Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights. Israel annexed the region in 1981, but since then, no other country has acknowledged the change, in the hope that Israel would hold peace negotiations with Syria. Now, with peace talks definitely not on the agenda, DeSantis thinks the time is ripe for Congress to come out in full support of Israel’s position.

Would your bill have any effect on the ground or would it just be a declarative statement?

It’s a declarative statement, and that’s important. Let’s put Congress on record. I think my proposal will pass with pretty strong support, and maybe that will be a bit of ammunition for the Administration to consider whether they want to recognize the Golan. Before taking a step like that, it makes a difference if you know Congress is behind you. Next week the House Rules Committee will consider all the amendments that were submitted, including this one — and the Rules Committee doesn’t let every amendment come up for a vote. We want to first be approved by the Rules Committee, and if it’s approved, it’ll come to the House floor sometime in the middle of next week.

Why are you pushing this now?

I was in Jerusalem for the dedication of the American embassy, and that had been a big priority for me as chairman of the National Security Subcommittee. I believed we needed to do that — it would be good for the United States and good for our relationship with Israel. As I was sitting there, I was thinking, okay, what do we need to do next in the broader region, but particularly with the US-Israel relationship? It seemed to me that given the absolute disaster we’re seeing in Syria, with a civil war and massive Iranian influence right on Israel’s doorstep, now is the time for us to stand with Israel and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Just like moving the embassy took a lot of issues off the table and will hopefully temper some of the illusions some players have labored under for years, I believe recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights can make it clear that we’re not having the good guys move off that post.

Look, under no conceivable scenario would it make sense to pressure Israel to give up the Golan Heights, especially given how strategically important it is to Bashar Assad and the Iranians.

How exactly would your proposal, brought before the House, accomplish that?

Basically, the goal is to get it to a vote. If it passes, it will be included in our Defense Authorization Bill, in the Syria section. There’s a whole section dealing with different Syrian issues, including military matters and our involvement in Syria. And I think that’s fine, but you know, there’s an elephant in the room. So now we want to address the Golan Heights, and I thought that it’s a good opportunity to do that.

Do you know if Democrats are going to support it or oppose it?

I don’t know. This is just my own amendment. The amendment deadline was very tight — Thursday morning — and I returned from Israel on Tuesday afternoon. Obviously, I had a lot of other things on my plate, so I had to ask myself, what are my priorities on this? This was one of them, and I knew I had to pull the trigger on it.

Did you speak with people in the White House about it? Do you know if the Trump administration is considering it?

I have spoken with some folks, but I’m not going to go into any of those discussions.

During your visit to Israel, did you speak with any Israeli politicians about your proposal?

I got a chance to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He said publicly that he’d like the US to do this, and it seems to me that there’s broad support in Israel for recognizing the Golan. I don’t think many people in Israel would want to see it ceded under any plausible scenario. There’s Judea and Samaria, and that needs to be negotiated with the Palestinians, but here, we’re talking about the Golan Heights, and I just don’t see how you’re ever going to give that back to Syria. It’s just not going to happen.

So what’s the next step?

If the amendment is allowed to come up for a vote, there’ll be a debate on the floor of Congress. Hopefully, we’ll be able to pass it out of the Congress and include it in the defense bill, which would make it a front-burner issue. The White House will then have to respond publicly to the State Department, explaining why yes or why not — the whole nine yards. This puts the issue front and center. Had I not done this, no one would necessarily be talking about the Golan. It’s a way to force an issue into the open, and I was happy to do that. (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 711)