Bereaved families, high school students, and Israeli soldiers attend a Memorial ceremony remembering the fallen IDF soldiers, overlooking ancient Gamla and the sea of Galilee, Golan Heights on May 13, 2024. Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90
The coalition government on Sunday unanimously approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to encourage demographic growth in the Golan Heights and Katzrin, totaling more than NIS 40 million ($11 million).
The announcement regarding the development plan comes shortly after Israel chose to occupy the buffer zone between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in Israel’s north and the former Syrian army positions along the border.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement: “In light of the war and the new front facing Syria, and with the aim of doubling the population of the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today brought the first amendment of the plan to encourage demographic growth in the Golan Heights and Katzrin to the government’s approval.”
The plan provides funding in several areas, including education, renewable energy, the construction of a student village, and a developmental program to assist the Golan Regional Council in absorbing new residents who will arrive as a result of the initiative.
Netanyahu stated: “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, to cultivate it, and to settle it.”
While the plan only includes increasing settlement in the Israeli Golan Heights, the move was quickly criticized by several countries, including most of the Arab nations, who reject the decision by the U.S. government, under former President Donald Trump, to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights territory seized following the Six Days War in 1967.
In 2021, the government under then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also approved a plan to double the number of settlements, approving funding for the construction of over 7,000 housing units, aiming to attract another 23,000 occupants.
The Golan Heights region represents a strategic defensive territory for Israel, as the land is at a significantly higher elevation than the rest of Israel and offers oversight of both Israel and Syria. The Golan also contains some of the most critical water sources for Israel and the country of Jordan.
“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the Israeli government’s decision to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, which threatens further escalation and tensions in the region,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday evening.
The ministry said it is committed “to the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Syrian state.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry also released a statement announcing its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli occupation government’s decision to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and its continued sabotaging of Syria’s prospects for restoring its security and stability.”
The Qatari government also condemned the announcement, calling it “a new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of international law.”
The Golan region is currently home to approximately 30,000 Israelis and about 23,000 Druze, many of whom were formerly Syrian but offered Israeli citizenship following Israel’s formal annexation of the territory in 1981.
In a video message on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel has “no interest in confronting Syria. Israel’s policy toward Syria will be determined by the evolving reality on the ground.”
Last week, Netanyahu said the IDF “deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.”
In response to recent calls from Druze communities in Syria for Israel to annex their territory, the IDF met with Druze leaders and pledged to provide protection. IDF Chief Herzi Halevi assured the Druze communities of security against jihadist groups in the region but emphasized that Israel has no immediate plans to annex additional territory.
