Israel plans to double the population of the occupied Golan, citing threats from Syria

Author: Howard Goller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel agreed on Sunday to double its population in the occupied Golan Heights, saying threats from Syria remained despite a moderate tone from rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago.

“Strengthening the Golan strengthens the state of Israel, and that is especially important at this time.” We will continue to hold on to it, to flourish and inhabit it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it in 1981.

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump said he supported US support for Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, but most countries did not recognize the annexation. Syria demands that Israel withdraw, but Israel refuses, citing security concerns. Various peace efforts have failed.

Netanyahu said he spoke with Trump on Saturday about security developments in Syria.

“We have no interest in conflict with Syria,” Netanyahu said in a statement. Israel’s actions in Syria were aimed at “preventing potential threats from Syria and preventing terrorist elements from taking over near our border,” he added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the latest developments in Syria have increased the threat to Israel, “despite the moderate image rebel leaders claim to present.”

Netanyahu’s office said the government unanimously approved a plan worth more than 40 million shekels ($11 million) to encourage demographic growth in the Golan.

It said Netanyahu submitted the plan to the government “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria, and out of a desire to double the population of the Golan.”

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates condemned Israel’s decision, with the UAE – which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 – describing it as a “deliberate effort to extend the occupation”.

About 31,000 Israelis have settled there, said analyst Avraham Levin of the Alma Research and Education Center, which specializes in Israel’s security challenges on its northern border. Many work in agriculture, including vineyards and tourism. The Golan is home to 24,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice a branch of Islam, Levin said. Most identify as Syrian.

AVOIDING ‘NEW CONFLICTS’

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Saturday that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as his country focused on reconstruction.

Shara – better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – heads the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which ousted Assad from power last week, ending the family’s five-decade rule.

Since then, Israel has moved into a demilitarized zone inside Syria that was created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus, where its forces have taken over an abandoned Syrian military position.

Israel, which has said it does not intend to stay there and calls the incursion into Syrian territory a limited and temporary border security measure, has also carried out hundreds of strikes on strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria.

He said he was destroying weapons and military infrastructure to prevent them from being used by the rebel groups that ousted Assad, some of which emerged from movements linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, condemned what they called Israel’s occupation of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

“The state of Syria, exhausted by war, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not getting involved in disputes that could lead to further destruction,” Shara said in an interview published on the website Syria TV, a channel that is on the side of the rebels.

He also said that diplomatic solutions are the only way to ensure security and stability and that “uncalculated military adventures” are not wanted.