As the Assad regime fell, the IDF seized Syrian positions on the Israeli border, plus the demilitarized buffer zone, to keep them out of rebel hands.
Speaking atop the newly conquered summit of Mount Hermon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli army will remain in the strategic site on the Syrian border until it can withdraw securely.
Israeli officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders, and have not indicated when they might withdraw the troops. Last week, Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered troops to prepare to remain on Mount Hermon over the winter.
Speaking on Dec. 17, Netanyahu indicated that Israel is in no hurry to leave the site on Mt. Hermon, where the two hostile nations each have a military base. Syria has never recognized Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied the Syrian side of the mountain as the Assad regime fell to rebels, with Assad fleeing the country and the rebels entering Damascus on Dec. 8.
It was part of a quick campaign to secure military weapons and positions in the 155-square-mile buffer corridor that had lasted for 50 years as a demilitarized zone between the two nations. Katz said it was to ensure the positions didn’t fall into the hands of hostile rebels.
Mt. Hermon stands at the northeast corner of the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied during the Six-Day War of 1967 and has held ever since. In 1981, it officially annexed the land. The move was not recognized by most of the world, although it was recognized by President Donald Trump in 2019.
“The Syrian position controls, or can control, and has an advantage on, the IDF post,” he said. “It’s a vantage point. Way higher.”
Katz, who accompanied Netanyahu on Dec. 17, called the peak “the eyes of the state of Israel.”
Where Netanyahu stood was about six miles into Syria from the Golan Heights.
Mount Hermon’s top is 9,232 feet in elevation. The highest point on the southern Israeli part of the mountain cluster, which includes a ski resort, is 7,336 feet.
Seizing and holding enemy high ground has figured significantly in Israel’s military decisions, from its conquering and then annexing the Golan Heights to its remaining on the West Bank, which many Israelis refer to as Judea and Samaria.
A plateau, it towers over the narrow coastal strip stretching from Tel Aviv to Haifa, where much of the Israeli population is. Syria and Jordan both shelled Israel from the respective areas when they held them before 1967.
Israeli soldiers stand next to armored vehicles after crossing the security fence near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, on Dec. 17, 2024. Matias Delacroix/AP Photo
Some in the Israeli media say statements about remaining in Syria could jeopardize Israel internationally and pose a challenge to the new forces in the Syrian government.
Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, head of the rebel Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group now in Damascus trying to establish a government, has said he won’t allow Syrian soil to be used to stage attacks against Israel.
Al-Golani is the nom de guerre of Ahmed al-Sharaa. The HTS head said he understands why Israel occupied the demilitarized zone but hopes it will withdraw once order is established. He called for the return of UN peacekeeping troops to the site.
However, accompanying Netanyahu on Dec. 17, Katz said the IDF’s presence on Mount Hermon “creates deterrence vis-a-vis the rebels in Damascus, who are pretending to present a moderate face but are among the most extreme Islamic factions.”
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani addresses a crowd at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images
Many in Israel are skeptical of Al-Golani, a one-time member of terrorist groups ISIS and then Al Qaeda. They ask if his adopting the Western dress and promising to protect minorities—unlike ISIS—are sincere, or merely ploys to allay Western distrust and perhaps get the U.S. terrorist designation lifted from his group.
Israeli military strategists also note that Al-Golani’s group doesn’t control all of Syria, and some groups more explicitly hostile to Israel control parts of the country including Syria’s south close to Israel.
The prime minister said it was not his first visit to the site.
“This is nostalgic for me. I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit. The place has not changed,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) visits IDF troops at the peak of Mount Hermon, a Syrian military position occupied by Israel as the Assad regime fell, on Dec. 17, 2024. Courtesy of the Prime Minister’s Office.
He referred to his military service with the IDF’s special forces, the Sayeret Matkal unit. Publicly available information says Netanyahu also participated later, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in a commando attack deep into Syria whose details remain classified.
“It is the same place,” Netanyahu said. “But its importance for the security of Israel has been underscored in recent years, and especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events in Syria. We will determine the best arrangement that ensures our security.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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