Golan Archives | Christian Learning & News

Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday new plans to boost development on the Golan Heights and double the population there within the next four years. The Israeli Cabinet unanimously voted to invest NIS 1 billion ($317 million) in the region and create several new communities and neighborhoods in the Golan.

“This is our moment. This is the moment of the Golan Heights,” Bennett said during a special cabinet meeting at a kibbutz (community) on the Golan. “After long and static years in terms of the scope of the settlement, our goal today is to double settlement in the Golan Heights.” Bennett’s goal is for there to be 100,000 residents in the area.

The Golan Heights span from the Sea of Galilee to the northernmost part of Israel at Mount Hermon. Syria controlled the territory until they lost it in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel officially annexed the land in 1981. While former US President Donald Trump and his administration acknowledged the Golan as part of Israel, the rest of the world does not—they still consider it a part of Syria.

Bennett pointed to a couple of factors that influenced the decision to fund the Golan Heights development project. One—he said the Biden administration has “made it clear that there is no change” in the US position that Israel has control of the Golan. Two—since the COVID-19 pandemic, many Israelis have discovered they can work remotely from anywhere, so why not the Golan—it’s a “great option for those who prefer clean air, space, and quality of life.”

There’s already one new town for Israelis to flock to—Trump Heights—inaugurated in 2019 in honor of Trump and his recognition of the area belonging to Israel.

Plus, Bennett said Israel settling the Golan is much better than Syria taking over again. “Every knowledgeable person in the world understands that it is preferable to have Israeli heights that are quiet, flourishing, and green as opposed to the alternative.”

Currently, about 53,000 people live on the Golan—27,000 Jews, 24,000 Druze (an Arab people group whose religion dates back to the 11^th century and is a mix of Islam, Hinduism and Greek philosophy), and 2,000 Alawites (a minority sect of Shia Islam—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is an Alawi).

The Israeli government intends to upgrade infrastructure, build new neighborhoods and communities, and create 2,000 new jobs by turning the Golan Heights into “the capital of Israel’s renewable energy technologies.”

The hope is to bring innovative agricultural technology projects to the area, including a project where solar panels are mounted over crop fields. Somehow this setup manages to generate electricity AND improve the harvests…innovation in Israel never ceases to amaze me!

The money will also be spent to build 7,300 new housing units and upgrade the roads, internet, and other infrastructure in the Golan. Since the area is pretty sparsely populated and the roads are mostly used by farmers or the military, this will be a boon to the region. If you’ve never been to the Golan, it’s beautiful—open farmland, rolling hills, orchards, and Mount Hermon (which some speculate is the sight of Yeshua’s transfiguration) looms large on the horizon when you get to the northernmost part of the country.

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, all the ministers attending the cabinet meeting had to have a rapid COVID test before entering the session. While Prime Minister Bennett tested negative, he got word soon after his speech that his daughter had tested positive. Bennett left immediately and went into self-isolation. His office said he and his daughter are vaccinated.

Over 100 bereaved families have signed a petition presented to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman demanding that Maj. Gen. Yair Golan be removed from consideration to be the next IDF Chief of General Staff, saying that he “preferred the lives of enemy civilians over those of IDF soldiers.”

The petition cited several statements made by Golan in the past, including a recording of the former deputy chief of staff, where he spoke about the way the IDF balances risks of collateral damage against operational needs.

“It’s unacceptable that in the name of preventing risk we would decide that now we are going to mow down an apartment building. You would kill women, children, those involved. It’s intolerable,” Golan is heard saying in the recording, adding that if “an army unit needs to take risks in order not to harm bystanders, yes, it will take those risks not to harm bystanders.”

“Not in every combat situation are we all right-wing, are we all about to be slaughtered, and not every woman is hiding a terrorist behind her,”Golan continued, “I expect commanders to understand situations and take reasonable steps.”

The families also cited a controversial 2016 statement by Golan which they said was further proof he is unfit for the job. In an Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, Golan said Israeli society is becoming more extreme and compared processes taking place within Israel to those that took place in Germany in the years leading to World War II. “If there is something that frightens me in the memory of the Holocaust, it is identifying horrifying processes that occurred in Europe…70, 80 and 90 years ago and finding evidence of their existence here in our midst, today, in 2016,” Golan said at the time.

Im Tirzu, an NGO that describes itself as a “grassroots Zionist organization” and is accompanying the bereaved families, said in a statement that: “A worrying picture comes from these statements of a commander who is prepared to take necessary risks with the lives of his soldiers,” the petition read, “As bereaved parents, siblings and spouses these quotes very much concern us. A man who thinks the blood of our children is cheap cannot protect or command them.”

Im Tirzu Chairman Matan Peleg said: In order to ensure the survival of the State of Israel, the IDF must educate it soldiers and commanders to strive for victory… Yair Golan’s words prove that he may be fit to command the Red Cross, but definitely not the IDF.”

Responding to the petition, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said: “Maj. Gen. Yair Golan is an excellent and brave officer, who has devoted his life to the security of the State of Israel. The smear campaign being waged against him in recent days will have no effect on the process of selecting the next Chief of General Staff.”

Liberman has interviewed four candidates, Maj. Generals Aviv Kochavi, Nitzan Alon and Yair Nitzan, as well as Golan. The four will now be interviewed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a final decision is made. The new chief of staff is set to replace the incumbent Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot on December 31.

Also responding to the petition was Yad Labanim, an organization dedicated to honoring the memory of Israel’s fallen soldiers. In a statement released on Monday, Yad Labanim accused Im Tirzu of taking advantage of bereaved families in order to promote their political goals.

“Im Tirzu is desecrating the bereaved families, and is taking advantage of them in order to further their obvious political goals,” the statement read, adding “It is not surprising that the organization that brought us the ‘Foreign Agent’ campaign, is now managing to sow conflict between bereaved families.”

Yad Labanim was referring to a 2015 campaign called “Exposing the Foreign Agents,” in which Im Tirzu accused several prominent Israeli public figures of being foreign agents for European governments who do not have Israel’s best interest at heart. Among those accused were world renowned Israeli author David Grossman, himself a bereaved father, after losing his son Uri in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Written by Yona Schnitzer/TPS | Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS

Golan

Israel Gives Greenlight To Build Communities On The Golan— “This Is Our Moment”

Bereaved Families Sign Petition Against Candidate for Chief of Staff