UNSC expresses ‘deep concern’ over Netanyahu’s statement on Golan

The temporary president of the UN Security Council, Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi, said at a press conference in New York on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's recent announcement that the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli sovereignty is "null and void" as well as contrary to UN resolution 497 and international law. Liu made the statement after a meeting in which he said council members "expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan." Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon called the council's decision an unfair criticism of Israel, saying "While thousands of people are being massacred in Syria, and millions of citizens have become refugees, the Security Council has chosen to focus on Israel – the only true democracy in the Middle East."