Flag of Israel Golan Heights, Israel

Kibbutz fields in the Golan Heights
Kibbutz fields in the Golan Heights with the snow capped heights of Mt. Hermon in the background and an Israeli surveilance station overlooking the cease-fire line with Syria just beyond.

The Golan Heights sit in the northeast corner of Israel. They were captured along with the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War. Prior to its capture the Golan had been part of Syria, and the Syrians still seek its return. The Israeli Knesset voted on December 14, 1981, to annex the Golan as an integral part of Israel, as opposed to most of the other territories which remain under military rule. This claim is not recognized by most other countries.

View from a fortified Golan Hill to the Sea of GalileeThe Golan is surprisingly small for all the press it receives. It is a mere 1,190 square km (459 square miles). The two panoramic pictures shown are shot from the same the same hilltop.  The tall hills in the image at the top of the page are just inside the Syrian border on the eastern edge.  The lake along the horizon to the right in the other picture is the Kineret (or Sea of Galilee) which sits inside Israel proper its west side. (And this exaggerates things since the second shotis made looking southwest, not due west.)  In fact, the average width of the Heights from the Syrian border to the 1948 Israeli "Green Line" borders is a mere 20 km. It represents less than 1% of the total land area of Syria.

The importance of the Golan is threefold.

  1. The Heights overlook many Israeli farms and villages along the Jordan River, Before their capture in 1967, Israeli settlements were frequently shelled from Syrian positions on the Heights.
  2. The Syrian border town of KinetraThe eastern edge of the heights are the highest point between Israel and Syria's capital city of Damascus. Israel enjoys a direct surveilance position of the capital and a superior position to repulse a Syrian attack.
  3. The Golan enjoys one of the heaviest rainfalls in the Middle East and thus provides approximately 40% of Israel's water supply. Most it, along with water from the Galilee to the west is stored in the Sea of Galilee. Syria's claim to the Golan extends to the eastern shore of this sea, and thus into much of this most essential needs for living.
The Dan River, one of the tributataries of the Jordan.Compared with Israel's other disputed territories, the Golan is relatively empty. Approximately 20,000 Syrian Druze remain in the Golan waiting for reunification with their homeland. An approximately equal number of Israelis (mostly former soldiers stationed here) have moved into this relatively isolated part of the country. Since the Golan lay outside of British Palestine, the Golan is a matter between Israel and Syria only and is not part of the Israel-Palestinian dispute. Most of the Golan is taken up with farming communities, and military practice ranges.

In addition to it's use as a defensive barrier, the Golan is one of Israel's outdoor playgrounds. It is one of the most beautiful regions for outdoor hiking, and on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, Israel's highest Mountain, is Israel's one and only ski area.

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    © Copyright 1999 Richard S. Cooper