(VOVworld) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights and the strategic plateau bordering Syria will forever belong to Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poses with ministers prior to the weekly cabinet meeting in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, Sunday, April 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, Pool)

During a Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the border would not change and it was time for the world to finally recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Israel captured 1,200 sq. meter of Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981, a move that is not internationally recognized.