President Trump’s decision to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria and to recognize the regime of Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) poses serious short and long-term challenges to Israel. In the short term, it means that Washington is supporting a ruler who is threatening our allies, the Druze. In the long run, though, America’s embrace of Damascus could result in Israel’s forfeiture of the Golan Heights.
The Golan has been in our hands for nearly sixty years. Menachem Begin annexed it in 1981 and President Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it in 2019. The Golan is an indivisible part of the Land of Israel, rich in precious Jewish sites, including a third of all the ancient synagogues ever discovered.
3 View gallery
IDF armor on the border with Syria during the fall of the Assad regime
(Photo: Efi Sharir)
Despite all that, to date, there are little more than 25,000 Israeli citizens living there. The failure of successive Israeli governments to vastly increase that number—and truly make the Golan an inseparable part of Israel- has led to repeated attempts to trade the Golan for peace with Syria.
That danger faded after March 2011 with the outbreak of Syria’s civil war. The threat of that conflict spilling over into Israel, Jordan, and the Gulf made it clear that the Golan had to remain in Israel’s hands. That was the point I emphasized in my discussions in the White House and my efforts, eventually successful, to achieve American recognition of our sovereignty.
But even then I knew that someday the civil war would end and pressure on Israel to relinquish the Golan would resume. Accordingly, I created the Lobby for the Development of the Golan. Its goal was to settle 10,000 Israelis on the heights every year for ten years and provide them with infrastructure, transportation, and jobs.
Michael Oren Photo: Avi MoalemUnfortunately, the initiative received little more than lip service from the government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the establishment of Trump Heights in 2019, but six years later, it’s population remains tiny. Prime Minister Bennet pledged to quadruple the Golan’s Israeli population in a decade, but his government didn’t last long enough to fulfill that pledge. Today, President Trump is talking about enlisting Syria in the Abraham Accords. That would certainly be a welcome development, but it will almost surely come at a price.
3 View gallery
Prime Minister Netanyahu announces the establishment of Trump Heights on the Golan
(Photo: Avihu Shapira)
We know from history, beginning with the Negev settlements created before the UN Partition Resolution, that where Israelis settle, Israelis keep. Nobody knows if Syria will fall back into chaos or whether al-Sharaa will survive and seek to make peace. Either way, Israel must act now and decisively. While contemplating the various day-after scenarios for Gaza, we must implement the only responsible course of making the Golan permanently ours.
