Several weeks ago we expressed strong support for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s call for U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over much of the Syrian Golan Heights. Today we applaud President Trump’s signing a proclamation to that effect on Monday.
With the current disintegration of Syria as a nation, Iran and Russia steadily increasing their presence, and Hizbullah’s attempt to take over what’s left, firm Israeli control of the Golan – the region’s major military high ground – has become a central part of U.S. and Israeli military planning. At a time of changing priorities for the deployment of U.S. forces, a Golan securely in Israeli hands – which after all, is the functional equivalent of U.S. control in times of crisis – is eminently in the national interests of both Israel and the U.S..
Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the Six Day War in 1967 and formally annexed it as part of Israel in 1981. Unfortunately, no other country acknowledged the legitimacy of the move and there have been periodic calls for Israel to relinquish the Golan to Syria and withdraw.
Yet the Golan was also the bloodiest theatre in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War as Israel fought back Syrian invasions pouring down from the Golan. It seems inconceivable that the control of the Golan should be in political limbo and Israel should not be able to fully rely on the Golan as a buffer and staging point.
We are not unmindful of the concern by some that this will further alienate Israel from the rest of the world. But we note that the same concerns amounted to naught following the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Further we have the growing suspicion that with the aims of Russia, Iran and Hizbullah becoming clearer by the day, there is far more support for a strong Israel than one would think.