U.S. Special Envoy Tom Barrack Contradicts Trump Policy, Claims Israel ‘Occupies’ Golan Heights
Israel’s Defense Minister Katz: Barrack’s comment “is full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the position of U.S. President Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights.”
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack has claimed that Israel is “occupying” the Golan Heights, contradicting the Trump administration’s established policy of acknowledging Jerusalem’s sovereignty over the territory.
Barrack, who is also special envoy for Syria and Iraq, accused Israel of “occupying” the Golan Heights in violation of the dictates of the United Nations and the “international order.” “They still occupy the Golan against the UN resolutions, against all of the international order, which has said the Golan is Syria’s,” he said in an interview with Lebanese-Australian podcast host Mario Nawfal.
Does @USAMBTurkiye Tom Barrack work for the United States or Syria-Turkey?
The United States recognizes the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory. https://t.co/qW2woPOL86
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 22, 2026
In 2019, President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Israel took control of the strategic mountainous plateau in the defensive war of 1967, overrunning Soviet-supplied Syrian artillery that was shelling low-lying Israeli towns and villages.
While recognizing Israel’s right over the territory in 2019, President Trump noted that the Israeli military “took control of the Golan Heights in 1967 to safeguard its security from external threats.” With persisting terrorist and military threats in the region, the strategic heights remain “a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel,” he observed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz slammed the U.S. Special Envoy for straying from President Trump’s official policy. Barrack’s comment “is full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the position of U.S. President Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights,” the defense minister said.
🚨🇮🇱🇺🇸 Israeli Defense Minister Katz slams Tom Barrack's comments as "full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the position of U.S. President Trump himself"
Katz further says that the IDF is the one that pushed for the strike on Syrian airbase following intel on…
— גיא עזריאל Guy Azriel | Diplomatic Correspondent (@GuyAz) August 22, 2026
In the same podcast, Barrack floated another bizarre theory, speculating that the recent IDF airstrike on a Syrian airbase was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ploy to sway Israeli elections set for October. The Israeli Air Force carried out the strikes amid Turkey’s efforts to extend its military presence in Syria.
“One theory is they were just baiting Turkey, and it’s a very aggressive, but maybe well-received, pre-election concept,” he declared. “The other theory is that between the IDF, the Mossad and the Prime Minister’s Office there was a miscommunication.”
On Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets reportedly struck a Syrian airbase that Turkey has been planning to occupy. Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in northern Syria shortly after a Turkish military delegation inspected the Assad-era facility, media reports indicate. Turkey’s Erdogan regime is responsible for propping up the Ahmed al-Sharaa-led Islamist rule in Syria.
The strike was to thwart Turkish plans to install air defense systems in the area, official Israeli source confirm. Israel shared this intelligence with Washington.
🚨 Cleared For Publication: plans to deploy Turkish air defence systems behind Israeli strike in Syria
The Israeli strike on a Syrian air base on Tuesday was linked to intelligence shared with the Americans about Turkish plans to deploy air-defense systems at the site.
Israeli…
— גיא עזריאל Guy Azriel | Diplomatic Correspondent (@GuyAz) August 22, 2026
Meanwhile, Israel continues to fight terrorists in and around the Golan region. The IDF on Saturday eliminated a terrorist trying to stage a cross-border attack near the Syrian border. The Israeli border troops “fired in southern Syria toward a terrorist who advanced terror attacks in final stages of preparation,” the military disclosed. “The terrorist’s activity posed an immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
An Israeli drone struck a vehicle near Beit Jinn in southwestern Syria, injuring one person, according to Syrian media. The IDF said it struck a suspect who was planning to execute an imminent attack against IDF troops operating in the area. pic.twitter.com/0fDCsxp7q0
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) August 22, 2026
On Friday, a group of Hezbollah terrorists intruded into the Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon. “IDF soldiers identified several suspects who crossed into the Security Zone in the Baraashit area, entered a structure, and posed a threat to IDF soldiers,” the military revealed. “Following the identification, the IDF carried out a strike on the structure.”
Lebanese channels: IDF struck the village of Barashit, roughly 9 km west of Menara. pic.twitter.com/TA1yEtwd7j
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 21, 2026
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Gone Native, has he?
Ambassador Disease. Cue the anecdote about asking an ambassador to locate “their country” on a globe. If they don’t pick the USA, replace them.
Baldy turd thinks a nation called Palestine exists/once existed. Arafat’s bum kisser.
Here’s a great example where Trump can show his chops by firing a swampie immediately.
Now, will he? My money says no.
Probably not. Supposedly this guy has had business relations with Trump and assisted Jared Kushner to the tune of $70 million in buying up his debt and reworking terms to help Kushner avoid bankruptcy. He’s all sorts of entangled with UAE. This dude seems like a member of the neocon globalist/corporatist establishment in his outlook/allegiances/priorities. Trump owed him some favors and appointing him ambassador to an important Nation in this region was the result.
He’d better
He wants to be king for a day. His life doesn’t depend of defending Israel, but he surely doesn’t know how to defend his job.
Barrack is of Lebanese Christian ancestry. I’ve never thought expat Lebanese Christians were friends of Israel. He also has Saudi ties.
I very much he doesn’t know the US position on the Golan heights. He’s either sucking up to the Turks for who knows what reason or is letting his feelings about Israel seep out.
Rubio needs to chastise him and he needs to write a retraction even if he is a close friend of Trumps. Let’s see if it happens.
Could anything going by the name Bar(r)ack be good?
History says no.
Is the “special” part of his title related to “special education”?
It’s how his mother referred to him when writing his resumé.
Show me a single instance in 1,400 years of Muslims’ conquests, invasions, rapes, executions, enslavements, and barbarism, where Muslims won territory in a defensive war that they didn’t start, and were incessantly pressed to give back the territory.
To be fair, after Assad was toppled, Israel expanded its control of the Golan Heights to include the Syrian side that was beyond the area that was recognized as part of Israel by the U.S. under the first Trump administration. I am not saying that this expansion was not justified, it was taken for defensive reasons because of the instability and uncertainty that followed the regime change in Syria, including the threats to the Druze community in the region. But Israel has not laid claim to the territory. So if we give Barrack the benefit of the doubt, he could be referring to this.
Not credible doubt. He references UN resolutions and defiance of the international order. Has the UN passed any since Israel moved to protect the Druze from Syria’s Al Qaeda regime?
Who’s paying Barrack’s salary? Clearly he’s not serving America any longer so he needs to be told he’s fired.
He is a finger pointer like his name sake Obama.
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