Israel approves plan to double number of settlers in occupied Golan


The Israeli government of Naftali Bennette voted on Sunday a plan to double the number of settlers in the occupied Golan, a strategic area taken from Syria in 1967 and annexed forty years ago.

The Israeli government, meeting exceptionally in the occupied Golan Heights, unveiled this Sunday a plan to double the number of settlers in this strategic area taken from Syria in 1967 and annexed forty years ago. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chaired the ministerial meeting held in the Golan Heights, near the borders of Syria and Lebanon. He presented the plan, which is expected to cost 1 billion shekels (around 280 million euros).

“Our goal today is to double the population in the Golan Heights”, Naftali Bennett said, adding that the plan, approved by ministers on Sunday, aims to develop infrastructure in this region in the north of the country, as well as create housing and jobs. Around 25,000 Israeli settlers now live in the Golan Heights alongside nearly 23,000 Druze, most of whom claim to be Syrians, who refused Israeli citizenship at the time of annexation.

A tray rich in water

The Golan Heights, conquered by Israel from Syria during the 1967 war and annexed on December 14, 1981, constitutes a strategic territory for the two countries, which are still technically at war. Rich in water, the Golan Heights overlooks the Galilee and Lake Tiberias on the side controlled by Israel, and commands the road to Damascus on the Syrian side.

In March 2019, former US President Donald Trump signed the decree officially recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a decision at odds with the US position for decades. In June 2019, a new colony called “Ramat Trump” (“Trump Hill” in Hebrew) in honor of the then American president had also been inaugurated on the annexed part of the Golan Heights. Syria had denounced a “Flagrant violation” to its sovereignty.

“It goes without saying that the Golan Heights are Israeli”, reaffirmed this Sunday Naftali Bennett, stressing “Importance” of “Recognition of Mr. Trump and the fact that Joe Biden’s administration has clarified that there is no change in this policy.” In February, the new US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, nevertheless declared that the Golan was “Very important for the security of Israel”, but that “Questions of legality [étaient] of another order ”.



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