Netanyahu: Golan Heights Will Be ‘Forever’ Part of Israel

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 30, 2018. REUTERS/ Amir Cohen

Following the rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Golan Heights will be a “part” of Israel “forever.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu said in a video address from the Golan Heights, located between Israel and Syria, that Israeli forces secured the entirety of the region as a security measure. He also said that a 1974 agreement between Israel and the regime of then-leader Hafez al-Assad is now dissolved after Bashar al-Assad fled the country as rebels took over Damascus.

In a statement a day later, Netanyahu said, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friend, President-elect Donald Trump for acceding to my request to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, in 2019.”

He said that “the importance of this historic recognition has been underscored today,” and now, “the Golan Heights will be an inseparable part of the State of Israel forever.”

“The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran,” Netanyahu said. “I would like to make it clear: Additional challenges yet await us in the campaign and we are still active.”

Based on his comments, it’s not clear whether Israel will now be in charge of the entirety of the Golan Heights moving forward. Before Assad’s downfall, Israel had secured about two-thirds of the region.

In his remarks on Sunday, the prime minister said that Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer, or 155-square-mile, demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory.

The buffer between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the United Nations after the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab-led states. A U.N. force of about 1,100 troops has patrolled the area since then.

But the Israeli incursion sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the cease-fire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab. Israel controlled the Golan Heights during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it—a move not recognized by most of the international community.

“The peacekeepers at [the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF] informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The U.N. official added that the buffer zone was calm and that UNDOF peacekeepers remained in their position. The Security Council is scheduled to meet for special consultations called by Russia to discuss the buffer zone issue.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry criticized Israel’s military activity in the buffer zone in an English statement released on Monday, saying it’s part of a “continued violation of the principles of international law, and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.”

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry echoed that criticism and accused Israel of engaging in “a flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty that represents a “clear breach of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.”

Qatar also warned in a separate statement on Monday that the seizure of the Golan Heights buffer zone by Israel will lead the Middle East “to further violence and tension” and urged the “international community” to take legal action. It also said it backs Syrian sovereignty in light of the Assad regime’s collapse and asked the international community to bolster security in the country.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that armed individuals attacked Israeli troops in the Golan Heights buffer zone on Saturday as Israeli forces moved into the area.

Israel, he said, has taken “targeted and temporary control of certain areas near the border to prevent an Oct. 7 scenario from Syria,” referring to the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 civilians dead and 250 hostages taken.

The rebels who ousted Assad and now control much of Syria are led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former senior al-Qaeda terrorist, although he severed ties with the terrorist group years ago.

He has said in media interviews that he would set up a representative government and extend tolerance toward various religious groups.

Neither he nor his group have yet offered statements in response to Israel’s military actions in the Golan Heights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.