Netanyahu in Washington with Golan Heights recognition on tap

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington Sunday, looking for an electoral boost from Donald Trump amid expectations the US president will formally recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump broke longstanding international consensus last week over the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, saying the US should recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Israel's foreign minister said the US president will go one step further on Monday when he welcomes a grateful Netanyahu to the White House.

"President Trump will sign tomorrow in the presence of PM Netanyahu an order recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Netanyahu has long pushed for such recognition, and many analysts saw Trump's statement, which came in a tweet on Thursday, as a campaign gift ahead of Israel's April 9 polls.

The prime minister is locked in a tough election fight with a centrist political alliance headed by former military chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.

New opinion polls last week showed Netanyahu losing ground to his electoral rivals, and the Washington visit was seen as an opportunity to regain momentum. The prime minister has a "working meeting" at the White House on Monday and a dinner on Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, he is to address the annual conference in Washington of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Gantz speaks at the high-profile event on Monday.

The Golan Heights decision is the latest major move in favor of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital.

Syria and other states in the region condemned Trump's pledge, saying it violates international law. France said the same.

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Netanyahu phoned Trump to tell him he had made "history," and called the gesture a "Purim miracle," a reference to the Jewish holiday that Israel was celebrating that day.

Although Trump professed no knowledge of the Israeli politics in play, Netanyahu's relationship with the US president has long been a central feature of his campaign.

Trump appears on giant campaign billboards in Israel shaking hands and smiling with Netanyahu, and the premier has shared video of the US leader calling him "strong" and a "winner."