Why the Golan Heights Matter to Israel, Syria and Trump
Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra.
Photographer: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images
It’s a piece of high ground in one of the most conflict-prone places on Earth. That’s made the Golan Heights a focus of global dispute since Israel seized it from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. The U.S., like the rest of the world, had refrained from accepting Israel’s claim to the strategically important territory. But U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Israeli sovereignty there March 25 in a ceremony in Washington alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Located in the southwest tip of Syria, the Golan heights covers about 1,800 square kilometers (700 square miles), with about two-thirds under Israel’s control. The Golan shares a border with Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, and its rocky plateau towers over the Israeli valley to the west. When Syria controlled the high ground, its military regularly used it to shell Israeli communities below. Israel’s possession of the territory gives its military a clear view of southern Syria all the way to the capital, Damascus, 60 kilometers (40 miles) away, enabling it to monitor troop movements. The Golan offers fertile land — Israelis grow grapes there for wine — and an important source of water.