US Recognition of Israeli Territorial Claims in the Golan Heights and Jerusalem: Implications for the Norm against Acquisition of Territory by Force

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of the United States’ recognition both of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and of the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights on the international norm against territorial expansion by force. We conclude that these moves – in 2017 and 2019, respectively – did not weaken the norm. Our findings are important for the Arab-Israeli conflict itself as well as for the broader question of the strength of international norms in the face of great power's partial withdrawal from them.