The religious/ideological element in the Golan Heights, however, rarely provokes consensus among Israelis, despite the existence of some, albeit weak, Biblical references to the area. Ultimately, a deepening Jewish presence in the territory serves to provide Israel with strategic depth, compensating for the country’s narrow and presumably vulnerable central part. In 2019, the US became the first country to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli government encourages Israelis to move to the West Bank by subsidising 50% of land development costs and providing tax breaks and access to cheap labour. It’s estimated that at least one-quarter of the West Bank settlers, albeit a highly vocal and visible minority, are religious fanatics who see their presence in the territory as a fulfilment of God’s will in “Judea and Samaria,” allegedly the heart of ancient Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel).įor others, this is complemented by economic incentives. In the occupied West Bank, settlements are viewed through two primary lenses: the religious/ideological and the geopolitical/strategic.
From an Israeli perspective, the two territories have different legal statuses and serve somewhat different purposes. Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Syrian Golan Heights are equally illegal under international law. The Syrian government’s response did not go beyond the usual condemnations and reiterations that the Golan Height are part of Syria under international law, describing Bennett’s plans as “unprecedented escalation…that amounts to war crimes.” His announcement came only one month after the UN adopted by a sweeping majority a resolution condemning Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories, including the Golan Heights. His fellow party member, Nitzan Horowitz, the Minister of Health, declared his support.īennett also took the step confident that a regional and international reaction was going to be minimal and ineffective. Within the government coalition, only Eissawi Freij, the Palestinian-Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation from the left-wing Meretz party, was absent from the cabinet meeting, reportedly in protest against the plan.
Though, in the Makor Rishon Conference, the Israeli PM stated: “our position on the Golan Heights has no connection to the situation in Syria.” In February last year, shortly after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, Secretary of the State Anthony Blinken said the Golan Heights were of “real importance to Israel’s security,” implying the new administration would not seek to change the new status quo.īennett added that the war in Syria made Israel’s control of the territory more acceptable to his country’s international allies, and that the alternative would be much worse. The plans come as a partial fulfilment of Bennett’s pledges six weeks earlier at the Makor Rishon Conference in the Golan settlement of Hispin, where he vowed to quadruple the Jewish settler population in the occupied territory, initially from 27,000 to 50,000, and eventually to 100,000.Īfter the Mevo Hama meeting, Bennett was forthcoming about the fact that the recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the area by the Trump administration - and the Biden administration’s apparent unwillingness to reverse the decision – had encouraged the new investment. "The recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the area by the Trump administration - and Biden's apparent unwillingness to reverse the decision – has encouraged new investment in the Golan" “An addition of 23,000 people in the area," according to a statement issued by Bennett's office, eventually outnumbering the roughly 27,000 native, mostly Druze Syrian Arab population.Ī cabinet-approved blueprint revealed that most of the new housing units will be concentrated in Katzrin, Israel's main settlement in the area. Soon after the meeting, Bennett declared that his government plans to invest millions of dollars to double the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights within five years. The scenery gave a sense of geographical congruity and natural serenity but concealed a grim political reality. On the clifftop Israeli settlement of Kibbutz Mevo Hama in the Golan Heights, Israeli cabinet members posed for a photo-op in December ahead of a special meeting led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.īehind them was the stunning, misty horizon where the Israeli-occupied Golan plateau met Syria proper.