Just days after the fall of the Assad dynasty in Syria, Israeli security forces moved to control the strategically valuable territory that separates Israel from its neighbors to the north and east. At the time, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, claimed in front of the General Assembly that the operation was “limited and temporary.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed this sentiment in a visit to the territory just days after the Assad regime collapsed. Dressed in body armor and flanked by Israeli troops, Netanyahu described the Israeli occupation as a “temporary defensive measure,” though Israeli troops still remain in the Golan.
The Golan Heights is also a point of personal significance for Netanyahu, whose popularity has been slipping in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. Critics argue that the incursion into the Golan is a diversionary tactic for the Israeli president, who hopes to recoup some of his political capital by laying claim to the highly symbolic territory and shows little regard for humanitarian or political concerns.
Mount Hermon juts out of the snow-capped range that splits the Syria-Lebanon border. The peak appears in early Assyrian myths, the Hebrew Bible, and in early versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Beyond its religious significance, the mountain is a crucial part of Israel’s strategic early warning system and is the highest permanently manned UN position in the world. The plateau surrounding Hermon is known as the Golan Heights – a 460 square mile region that includes parts of Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel decisively defeated five invading armies from its Arab neighbors and annexed the Golan. In addition to its defensive significance as a buffer zone between regional rivals, the Golan is a political marker of Israel’s decisive victory in the Six-Day War and its status as a pariah state.
In 1973, Syria briefly regained control of the region during the Yom Kippur War but was pushed back by Israel once again. After the conclusion of the war a year later, a United Nations agreement established a 90-square-mile demilitarized zone that included the peak of Mount Hermon. United Nation troops patrol the area, and Israel vacated the region to allow displaced Syrians to return to their homes.
However, locals and international watchdogs are growing increasingly concerned, as Israel motioned that it intends to stay in the region indefinitely. During a visit to the Golan in February, Israeli Defense Minister Katz stated that “the [Israeli Defense Force] will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north, and all the residents of Israel.” In December, when Israeli troops first moved into the territory, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that “The Golan Heights will forever be an inseparable part of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu hopes to recoup some of his political capital by laying claim to the highly symbolic territory and shows little regard for humanitarian or political concerns.
The words of Netanyahu and Katz ring a concerning note for the United Nations and the Middle East as a whole. To many critics, the Israeli advance takes advantage of a moment of regional chaos to achieve the longtime expansionist goals of Netanyahu and the Israeli right. The United Nations called for Israeli troops to withdraw from the UN buffer zone and respect the boundaries set by the 1974 agreement. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon have also criticized the Israeli encroachment as a “flagrant violation” that threatens to “ruin Syria’s chance of restoring its security.”
The new regime in Syria has had a busy few months. While the recently inducted interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has been preoccupied with state building, developing regional relationships, and rooting out remnants of the Assad regime, his office has been mostly silent on the Golan Heights issue. However, his ministers of defense and foreign affairs stated that the government plans to “fully cooperate” with United Nations directives and that if asked, they are willing to redeploy forces to the edge of the Golan Heights. Representatives of the regime also met with UN Peacekeeping Chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix in January to discuss the Israeli encroachment.
On the humanitarian front, concerns have arisen about Israeli conduct and policy in the occupied region. NPR and Haaretz conducted interviews with locals and members of the Druze communities that have roots in the Golan going back many centuries. Villagers reported that Israeli troops were responsible for forcible displacements, infrastructure damage, and non-consensual searches of their homes. Al Jazeera also found evidence of hundreds of displacements including several instances where Israeli troops fired on civilians.
Netanyahu stands to gain personally and politically from the incursion, but he also stands to jeopardize fragile peace talks that have just recently begun to bear fruit. For Syria, working with the UN to stabilize the Golan Heights is crucial to set the tone for the new regime’s relationship with Israel.
Toby Zimmerman ‘27 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at t.zimmerman@wustl.edu.