On the sixth anniversary of the U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, David Friedman described his role in the historic decision as one of the “main points of pride” in his life.
Yet Friedman made little effort to play up this achievement, which he worked towards in 2019 as U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump.
“Frankly, not much has changed since the recognition—not diplomatically. And that’s a big non-change,” Friedman said last month at an event hosted by the Golan Regional Council honoring him for his efforts.
In Friedman’s view, the Biden administration’s decision not to reverse the recognition—or to pressure Israel regarding the Golan—is itself highly significant. “That’s the biggest thing,” explained Friedman, a soft-spoken but astute negotiator.
His assessment, echoed by several local community leaders, reflects the cautious strategy that has guided efforts to entrench Israel’s hold over its northernmost and strategically vital region. Progress on this has been pursued in steady, incremental growth, reserving bold public gestures for moments of urgency.
“We survived what I would consider to be a somewhat hostile administration. We’re still here. America’s foreign policy still recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan,” said Friedman, who is being considered for the role of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “I think everyone can now say with confidence—because it has bipartisan support—that the Golan Heights is Israel’s forever.”
A former Trump attorney from Long Island, Friedman now splits his time between Israel and the United States. He was awarded “Honorary Citizenship of the Golan” at a ceremony attended last month by dozens of local leaders as well as his wife, Tammy, at the Ein Kshatot archaeological site. Accepting the award, Friedman emphasized that he did so in Trump’s name: “It was the president’s decision, and he deserves the credit.”
The choice of location underscored the Golan’s deep historical and spiritual connection to Israel and the Jewish people—a dimension often overshadowed by its strategic significance. The event was held at the reconstructed ancient basalt-stone synagogue of Ein Kshatot, a relic from a time when the Golan was a spiritual and agricultural hub in the Land of Israel.
Overlooking Lake Kinneret at sunset, the site also highlighted the Golan’s strategic importance. Prior to Israel’s capture of the area in 1967, Syrian artillery positions located nearby had a clear line of sight to Tiberias and other Israeli towns.
If Trump ever visits the Golan, Ein Kshatot is one place he should see, Friedman remarked. “It tells the whole story,” said the former ambassador, who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household and recalls reading about the Golan’s wonders in the Bible as a child. He also recommended visiting the technology park in nearby Katzrin. “Taken together, it’s the perfect blend of ancient and modern, historical and geopolitical,” he said.
Ronen Cohen, a resident of Moshav Ani’am, echoed Friedman’s view that the low-profile aftermath of the recognition was a positive outcome. “The recognition may have encouraged more people to settle here, but it hasn’t changed our lives very much—and that’s a good thing,” said Cohen, a 52-year-old brigadier general who moved to the Golan with his wife in 1999 and raised three children there.
He stressed the importance of developing the region while preserving its natural beauty.
For Cohen, what sets the Golan apart is its harmonious diversity: Druze, religious and secular Jews, native-born Israelis and immigrants, people from across the political spectrum all living side by side peacefully. “It’s a model region,” he said. “If I could wish one thing for the rest of Israel, it would be that the whole country enjoys the kind of coexistence we have here.”
This diversity is evident in Trump Heights, a new village established following the U.S. recognition and named in honor of the president. The Golan’s first new community in more than two decades, it is home to secular, religious and Haredi families. Druze teachers work in the village kindergarten. Currently, 26 families live in temporary housing as construction begins on permanent homes. Another 75 families are expected to join by 2029.
In a broader effort to strengthen the region, the Israeli government launched an ambitious plan last year to double the Golan’s current population of roughly 53,000 within five years. As part of this initiative, an additional 1,800 housing units were approved in February for Katzrin, the Golan’s only city.
Following the collapse in December of the Assad regime in Syria—now under the control of militias led by a former jihadist—Israel seized additional territory east of the border for security reasons. Israeli troops remain there temporarily, but many Golan residents hope the land will ultimately stay under Israeli control.
“It’s easy to forget now, but just 30 years ago, people were fighting government plans to give this land to Syria,” said Ya’akov Selavan, deputy head of the Golan Regional Council.
Over the years, several Israeli governments engaged in negotiations with the Assad regime—some directly, others through intermediaries—offering to return the Golan in exchange for a peace treaty. Particularly during Yitzhak Rabin’s tenure in the 1990s, these talks sparked major protest movements.
At Ein Kshatot, Friedman offered a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes process that led to the U.S. recognition. According to him, it all started with a tweet.
After receiving Trump’s approval by phone, Friedman dictated a short statement to White House aide Dan Scavino, who posted it to Twitter (now X). While the tweet captured the shift in U.S. policy, Friedman noted, “it was still just a tweet. In the history of world politics, no one has ever received recognition of sovereignty by tweet.”
So Friedman and others at the State Department quickly began formalizing the recognition, crafting the official policy position that exists today.
While the process was underway, Friedman flew to the United States to spend Purim with his children. At Ben Gurion Airport, a Chabad rabbi met him with a megillah—the Book of Esther—which Jews are obligated to read on the holiday.
Friedman paused on one verse, spoken by Mordechai to Esther as she prepared to lobby King Ahasuerus for the Jews of Persia. In it, Mordechai impresses upon Esther the uniqueness of the opportunity presented to her.
“And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Friedman quoted the verse in Hebrew, reflecting on the meaning it holds for him.
The verse is not the only thing that stayed with Friedman following the recognition. He also received a tallit—a Jewish prayer shawl—made from wool shorn in the Golan and gifted by local farmers. “I don’t think there’s been a day since then that I haven’t worn that tallit to synagogue,” he told the audience.