Life in the Golan Heights

Life in the Golan Heights. It is early evening and I am listening to the not so faint explosions as artillery shells are being fired off. It is an army exercise and the local authorities have sent out a message giving us the heads-up.

The explosion of an outgoing shell is, of course, different from that of an incoming shell. The first is a wave of air pressure whose sound is prolonged as the shell moves off into the distance. The later impacts with the ground and the air pressure and physical reverberations are much more violent.

The land here is a fluid combination of villages, farm and grazing land, national parks and military bases and firing zones. Of course, all this borders with Syria and Jordan, and with Lebanon far to the north on the Hermon Mountain ridge.

This week we had a visit by some members of the European Parliament. They were in Israel on a fact-finding mission. I do not know their politics or preconceived notions of Israel and it did not really matter. They had a short military overview of the Golan’s history and the current situation. They had a view of the border, the demilitarized zone which Israel moved into after the fall of Assad and I think they walked away with an understanding of the importance of the Golan for Israel’s security. To that end they were encouraged to follow America’s lead and support EU recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan.

Some will say that the Golan gives Israel “Strategic Depth” and that is why it is necessary for Israel to control the Golan Heights. Truth be told, Israel doesn’t have any strategic depth. This is why, until recently anyway, IDF doctrine laid down by David Ben Gurion was that wars are to be fought in enemy territory.

This was concisely explained to me once by a very learned man, military tactician and historian, Elliot Chodoff. He would use the example of the Soviet Union as a country that has strategic depth. When a foreign army can invade your land, conquer your capital and you can still come back to win the war, then you know you have Strategic Depth.

The Golan might give you some time to maneuver but it does not provide Israel with Strategic Depth.

One of the main lessons learned from the tragedy of October 7th was that when your enemy is preparing for war then you should take them seriously and act against them.

The other lesson was a reminder that Ben Gurion’s defense policy was right. Don’t wait for your enemy to bring the fight to you.

After the fall of Assad, Israel did not wait to see what would happen with the rebel forces. We have been watching the civil war up close since it began, and a lot of it played out on our border. We know who the actors are and most of them are murdering jihadists who hate the Zionist entity as much or more than they hate Assad. Israeli occupation of the demilitarized zone allows us to control the border and actively protect the state without waiting around to find out whether the leopard has changed his spots. In this case, whether Abu Muhammad al-Julani or Ahmed al-Sharaa as he is now called, has become a moderate jihadist wearing a new suit and tie.

Well, the European Parliament Think Tank has put out a briefing entitled: Time to lift the international sanctions on Syria? This was posted Feb. 11, 2025. While the briefing does not call for an out right end to all the sanctions, there is definitely an erring on the side of show. Meaning if al-Julani can put up a good show the EU will buy it.

Perhaps our visitors from the EU Parliament to the Golan will act with caution and wisdom now that they, hopefully, have a better understanding of the situation.

It should be noted that Syria was created by the French and granted independence in 1946. That would be 79 years of bad Middle East policy by the French and Europeans so my hopes are not high that this time will be any different.

It just seems a lot easier to “stay the course” even when the “course” has led from one disaster to another and one failed state to another.

This brings me to my final point. When something has not worked for so long then perhaps the time has come to try something new. This is true of the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well.

President Trump has, in a matter of weeks, held up a mirror to the failed policies and processes pursued by consecutive American administrations and European leaders. The reflection is ugly, sickly and holds no solution for the future. The diplomatic “double-speak” of past decades has failed. Endless talk. Endless process. The failed and fake pretense has brought more bloodshed than peace.

I am hopeful that the current upheavals will wake us all from our slumber and force us to be more creative, forceful and clear as we move forward.

Meir - Shabbat Shalom

Image by Leehu Zysberg from Pixabay