Druze Jewish residents of the Golan Heights, on opposite sides of the dispute over U.S. President Donald Trump's support for Israeli sovereignty over the territory, agree on one thing – it won't change matters on the ground.
The Golan is scattered with villages inhabited by 22,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam. Many still have relatives on the Syrian side of the border.
In Majdal Shams, older residents remember being part of Syria before Israel captured most of the heights in the Six-Day War, later annexing it in 1981. While under Syrian control, the territory was routinely used as a platform for terrorist attacks and rocket fire at Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley.
That annexation was not recognized internationally, and although they have lived under Israeli rule for more than half a century and shopfronts bear signs in both Arabic and Hebrew, many Druze still regard themselves as Syrian.
"Trump can make his statements and say he wants to make the Golan part of Israel. But we know this will stay Syrian land," said Sheikh Mahmoud Nazeeh, 70.
Amal Safadi, 54, a librarian, said: "Our blood is Syrian. If you take a blood test for a child, it will read Syrian."
Israel has given Druze residents on the Golan the option of citizenship, but most rejected it.
In other parts of Israel, however, which were never under Syrian control and would never be included in any future land-for-peace deal with the Syrian regime, the Druze are Israeli citizens and traditionally serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
In October last year, hundreds demonstrated against the holding of Israeli municipal elections on the Golan, blockading the polling station in Majdal Shams and waving Syrian and Druze flags.
Majdal Shams overlooks the divide between Israeli Golan and the part of the plateau controlled by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The two armies are divided by a demilitarized zone into which their military forces are not permitted under a 1974 cease-fire arrangement.
Trump's Golan announcement on Thursday came with many Israelis celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates the survival of Jews who had been marked for death while living under Persian rule in antiquity.
Israel regards the Golan as a strategic asset, because its hills overlook northern Israeli towns, particularly near its inland Sea of Galilee. Around 20,000 Jewish Israelis live on the Golan, many working in farming, leisure and tourism.
Many Israeli commentators saw Trump's declaration as a timely boost for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for April 9, in which he has been dogged by corruption allegations.
But some Israelis living in and around the Golan said Trump's gesture would change little on the ground.
"The U.S recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan makes us happy. However, our daily routine does not involve dealing with whether Israeli sovereignty is being recognized or not," said Haim Rokach, head of the Golan Regional Council.
Rami Yogev, 65, a resident of Kibbutz Dan, which is overlooked by the Golan, said he remembers shelling from the then Syrian-held heights onto his kibbutz during the war in 1967.
"I don't think Trump's announcement will make any difference here. It's not going to change anything. The [Druze] residents in the Golan already feel like they're Israelis. They have a better life than being in Syria or any Arab country – just look what happened in the war in Syria," he said.
Palestinian officials and analysts predicted that Trump's intervention on the Golan would further jeopardize prospects for the White House's long-awaited peace plan for the Middle East, spearheaded by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters: "These promises will not give legitimacy to the Israeli occupation and the Golan will remain Arab and Syrian land."
In Gaza, political analyst Adnan Abu Amer said Trump was trying to reshape the region ahead of the plan. "It is clear that Trump is trying to pre-empt the official announcement of the deal by imposing some facts on the ground," he said.
The European Union, meanwhile, announced on Friday that it would not follow Trump's lead and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
"The European Union, in accordance with international law, does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territories it occupied since July 1967, including the Golan Heights, and does not consider them as part of Israeli territory," said Maya Kosyanchich, a spokeswoman for EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, in a statement reported by multiple media outlets.
"We have taken note of U.S. President Trump's tweet on the Syrian Golan Heights occupied by Israel. The position of Germany and the EU on the Golan Heights is unchanged and in line with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," tweeted the country's Foreign Office.
Fox News reported over the weekend that Trump is expected to apply the tweet to an executive order that he will sign next week, making the recognition official. This could occur when Netanyahu visits with the president on Monday and Tuesday at the White House.
Netanyahu is also scheduled to address the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, which takes place March 24-26.
