Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday Israeli forces will stay in a buffer zone on the Syrian border, and specifically on the worl, “until another arrangement is found that will ensure Israel’s security.”
Netanyahu made the comments Tuesday from the mountain's snow-dusted summit — the highest peak in the area — which is located on Syria's side of the border. This was apparently the first time a sitting Israeli leader entered the Syrian territory.
Netanyahu said he had been on the summit of Mount Hermon 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit’s importance to Israel’s security has only increased given recent events.
Israel seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone, in the days after Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted by rebels. Israel’s capture of the buffer zone has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating a 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab.
Netanyau visited the buffer zone with Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said he instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.
{{/usCountry}}Netanyau visited the buffer zone with Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said he instructed the Israeli military to quickly establish a presence including fortifications, in anticipation of what could be an extended stay in the area.
{{/usCountry}}“The summit of the Hermon is the eyes of the state of Israel to identify our enemies who are nearby and far away,” Katz said.
Israeli forces moved to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory. The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. A U.N. force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.
Israel still controls the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — a move not recognized by most of the international community. Mount Hermon's summit is divided between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Lebanon, and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.