The Golan Heights : Political History, Settlement and Geography Since 1949 9781136740923, 9780415812351

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The Golan Heights

Presenting the settlement landscape of the Golan before and after June 1967, The Golan Heights deals with the issue of the border between Israel and Syria, and with the Israeli settlement process in the area following the Six Day War. The story of the Golan Heights and its position between Syria and Israel does not belong only to the past; it is still interwoven in the political present of the two countries. Public discourse in Israel on the political future of the Golan, and the direct and indirect political discussions between Israel and Syria, rest to a great extent on personal and collective memories, and these, by nature, are based on the past. The perceptions of the Israeli public were constructed upon the image of a mountain that became a monster. This image reached its peak on the eve of the Six Day War in June 1967, but continued to be consolidated and preserved in the Israeli collective memory, and so it has remained until the present. Addressing the question of the political future of the Golan, a central issue for both Israel and the wider Middle East, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Political History, Settlement Geography and Geopolitics. Dr. Yigal Kipnis teaches International Relations at Haifa University. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from the Technion in Haifa and an MA and PhD in Land of Israel Studies from Haifa University. His first book, The Mountain That Was as a Monster: The Golan Between Syria and Israel, was published in 2009. His second book, 1973: The Way to War, published in 2012, immediately became a bestseller. It reveals the continuing political process which led to the Middle East war of October 1973.

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The Golan Heights

Political history, settlement and geography since 1949

Yigal Kipnis

Routledge Taylor & Francis Croup LONDON AND NEW YORK

To Mira To Dror and Nira, Noa, Alon and Roni First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Yigal Kipnis The right of Yigal Kipnis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The Golan Heights: political history, settlement and geography since 1949/Yigal Kipnis. pages cm. – (Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics) “Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge”– Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Golan Heights–Politics and government–20th century. 2. Golan Heights–Politics and government–21st century. 3. Golan Heights– Geography. 4. Land settlement–Golan Heights–History–20th century. 5. Land settlement–Golan Heights–History–21st century. I. Title. DS99.G65K54 2013 956.91′4–dc23 012038206 ISBN: 978-0-415-81235-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-56869-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

Contents



List of maps List of tables Acknowledgments Archives and their abbreviations



Introduction

  1 The borders between Israel and Syria: one international border, multiple lines The international border of 1923  6 The armistice agreement, 1949  8 The Sheba’a Farms – seasonal settlements built by Lebanese inhabitants in Syrian territory  10   2 Border relations – summer 1949–summer 1967: the mountain which became a monster Establishing facts: from discussion to battle – summer 1949– 4 April 1951  19 The El-­Hama turning point: the battles over the DMZ – 4 April– 6 May 1951  24 Secret discussions: June 1951–May 1953  26 From local conflicts to initiated battles: summer 1953–November 1964  28 The violent clashes: November 1964–April 1967  39 1964–1967 from the Syrian viewpoint  46 The fourth of June 1967 line: an ambiguous concept rather than a defined line  49   3 The settlement map of the Syrian Golan Settlement development, 1878–1967  53

x xi xii xiii 1

5

18

52

viii   Contents The Syrian population of the eve of the Six Day War  56 The administrative division during Syrian rule  60   4 The atmosphere which preceded Israeli settlement in the Golan The withdrawal from Sinai at the beginning of 1949 and at the end of 1956  68 Military events on the Israeli–Syrian border, 1948–1967  70 The waiting period: the period of “national anxiety”  71 The global political situation  73 The myth of Zionist settlement and its low point  77   5 The leaders of the political system who motivated the settlement process Levi Eshkol: “we will compromise and compromise until my opinion is accepted”  79 Menachem Begin: the Golan is not part of the land of Israel  84 Yigal Allon and the Golan: a hawk with an olive branch  92 Yisrael Galili: if there is no peace, an empty space should not be left in the Golan  102 Moshe Dayan: as long as Israel is holding the Golan, there will not be peace  105

67

78

  6 Summer 1967, the pre-­settlement period The settling institutions  107 Political developments, summer 1967  117 Activity in the Golan Heights in June 1967: harvesting combines were organized in the Jordan Valley and herds were rounded up  122 Integration of Regional Council initiatives and Eshkol’s policies  125

107

  7 Settlement in the Golan, 1967–1970: temporary settlement The designing period: the establishment of ten settlements in a year and a half, October 1967–March 1969  130 The Golan Settlement Committee, the first committee: February 1968–March 1969  139 The period of conflict: March 1969–April 1970  140

129

  8 Settlement in the Golan, 1970–1982: from temporary to permanent settlement Running ahead with settlement and searching for people  143

143

Contents   ix The transition to permanent settlements in the shadow of battle: May 1970–summer 1974  145 The second committee: October 1973–April 1979  152 In the shadow of political processes: summer 1974–December 1981  161   9 The nadir: after the Golan Law, 1982–1992 The minimal budgets and the economic and social crisis  181 Demographics  184 Actions to strengthen regional cooperation  186 Updating the settlement plan and completion of its implementation  187

180

10 On the way to peace, 1993–2000 Rabin, 1993–4 November 1995, between Oslo and Damascus  194 Peres – November 1995–May 1996  200 Netanyahu, May 1996–July 1999, willingness for full withdrawal without mediation by the American government  202 Barak – July 1999–summer 2000, no hesitation and no fear of an agreement: errors in the conduct of its progress  205 The Golan in the shadow of political processes  216

192

11 Summary and conclusions Was the mountain a monster?  222

222



Appendix A: the Golan borders and their formation

233



Appendix B: list of Golan settlements and their populations, June 1967

240



Notes Bibliography Index

247 262 265

Maps

I.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 3.1 3.2

The Golan settlements The armistice agreement between Israel and Syria, 20 July 1949 The southern DMZ The DMZ north of Lake Kinneret The central DMZ The northern DMZ The Sheba’a Farms Golan settlements on the eve of the Six Day War The ethnic division of the Golan population on the eve of the Six Day War

4 13 14 15 16 17 17 65 66

Tables

  1.1   3.1   3.2   3.3   3.4   3.5   3.6   3.7   3.8   3.9   3.10   3.11   3.12   3.13   3.14   3.15   3.16   7.1   7.2   9.1   9.2   9.3 10.1 A.1

The Sheba’a Farms Settlements and inhabitants in the area captured by Israel and in territory which remained under Syrian control Distribution of settlements according to size Rate of increase of permanent settlements in the Golan – 1878–1960 Number of inhabitants in the Golan – 1959–1967 Inhabitants of the Golan who remained in the area which was captured by Israel during the Six Day War Ethnic division of Golan inhabitants in 1955 according to Bagh Distribution of employed Golan inhabitants in 1966, according to type of work The number of pupils and teachers in elementary schools in the Golan in 1966 Distribution of pupils in middle schools and high schools in the Golan in 1966 The number of pupils and teachers in middle schools and high schools in the Golan in 1966 Areas of the district of Quneitra and Feek (areas in kilometers) Administrative division of the Golan (Quneitra Province) on the eve of the Six Day War The Alawite minority on the Golan The Turkmenian minority on the Golan The Circassian minority on the Golan The Druze minority on the Golan Settlements established between 1967 and 1977 Settlements estsblished during the “Eshkol period” Number of inhabitants in the Golan settlements (1980–1991) Migration of inhabitants to Jewish settlements in the Golan Settlements in the Golan in 1992 Population in the Golan Heights between 1992 and 2009 List of Golan settlements and their populations, June 1967

11 52 52 55 56 57 58 59 60 60 60 61 62 63 63 64 64 131 138 185 186 191 218 240

Acknowledgments

This book is the result of a decade of continuing research, study and writing which was, for me, a fascinating experience, affording me both pleasure and satisfaction. This was due in no small measure to the contribution of many who accompanied me, asked, listened and created a close environment of interest and assistance. Some surpassed themselves in helping to read outlines of the manuscript or parts of it. All of them, friends and academics, became both visible and non-­visible partners in my work and their contribution is greater than they can imagine. This is the time to express my appreciation. A special word of thanks to Barbara Doron who translated the manuscript from Hebrew to English and who aided in its editing. Her involvement in bringing the work to completion exceeded the professional realm, and her part in guiding the English version of the book to publication is great. Many thanks to the representatives of Routledge who have seen fit to bring the material to the attention of those who do not read Hebrew and an additional thank you for their cooperation during the process of publication. Last on the list are those who are closest to me and who are the most influential, my family – Mira, Dror and Nira, Noa, Alon and Roni, who have shown curiosity, patience, interest and great familiarity with the research material. This enabled them to criticize, to assist and to create a supportive environment and a wonderfully encouraging atmosphere. Thanks to all.

Archives and their abbreviations

AAC BGA CZA IAFA IDFA SIA YTA

The Archives of the Agricultural Center The Ben Gurion Archives The Central Zionist Archives The Israeli Air Force Archives The Israel Defense Force Archives The State of Israel Archives The Yad Tabenkin Archives

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Introduction

In 1999 I completed my service in the Israeli military reserves. The 31 years during which I had been a pilot in the Israeli Air Force, 26 of them in the reserves, had been an inseparable part of my weekly routine. Taking advantage of the time previously devoted to reserve service, which had now become available, I decided to return to university study. More than 20 years after I had completed my engineering degree at the Technion in Haifa, I returned to classes in the Land of Israel Studies Department at Haifa University. At about the same time, a long political process between Israel and Syria was coming to a close without having achieved a peace agreement. Like all residents of the Golan, and as a farmer actively engaged in agriculture on my own farm, I was surprised to discover at the time that my happiness and the way of life I had chosen with my family and with my friends were being threatened by a new political reality. As I began to more deeply study past political and military events which had characterized relations between Israel and Syria, I discovered the extent to which my memories as an individual, and those of our society, did not correlate to actual events as they had occurred. I understood that this gap has greatly affected the inability to lessen the mistrust on both sides, and that it has had a significant psychological effect on the conduct of the political process. This understanding led me to focus my studies on research into the historical– settlement geography of the Golan Heights and on its political history. My master’s thesis dealt with “The Settlement Landscape in the Golan on the Eve of the Six Day War” and my doctoral dissertation centered on “The Rural Jewish Settlement Process in the Golan, 1967–1992,” both under the guidance of Professor Yossi Ben-­Artzi. The aim of this book is to share the findings of this research with the public. The decision about the political future of the Golan will affect the future of Israel and, to a great extent, the stability of the entire Middle East. Thus, public discussion about the issue should be objective and should rest upon knowledge of the historical facts. I hope that this book will make a real contribution to maintaining the discussion on this basis. Examining the story of the Golan Heights in modern times reveals a deep chasm which separates memory and history. This gap is characteristic of issues which are connected to recent historical periods and especially to those which

2   Introduction touch upon contemporary problems. The gap usually causes difficulty in dealing with the findings of historical research of the recent past or in accepting these findings, as personal and public memories of the events have already been structured, and both the individual and the society are reluctant to change them. Sometimes historical research conflicts with myths which have their own raison d’être, and these cannot be transformed easily. In many other cases, for various reasons, the narrative of a small group gains control of the historical account of a certain issue and designs it in a way which is incompatible with the role of the larger group in the story. The development of the gap between memory and history is a partial result of the small number of research studies investigating contemporary issues due to the lack of sources – archival material which is not available, as it is confidential or has not yet been organized for study by researchers. In contrast to the small amount of research, there is an abundance of writing based on personal knowledge of events, knowledge which is usually partial in nature and reflects the personal impressions of the individual who experienced the event. Alternatively, there are essays by persons who took part in the historical events and want to tailor the story to their own views. While a historical account is updated and reformulated when based upon the use of historical research methods, memory is personal and selective and given to benign illusion or agency, and that is the source of the gap. Regarding the Golan Heights, readers are invited to examine the gap between their own memories and the historical facts in light of the findings of this book which deals with the settlement geography, the history of the political process between Syria and Israel regarding the Golan, and the mutual effects the region and the Israeli–Syrian dispute have had on each other. The Golan settlement map was designed during a period of 25 years and was completed in 1992. Since then, the map has remained almost unchanged. At the same time, a political process between Syria and Israel, which up to that point had seemed impossible, began to appear both feasible and attainable. This process renewed the question mark over the political future of the Golan and intensified the uncertainty. It produced an atmosphere and created conditions which were also greatly different than those which had previously existed, and the Golan settlements began to perceive a real threat to their existence, even leading entire communities to seek alternative locations to continue their lives together if they were required to leave their homes. In the previous 25 years, Israeli settlement in the Golan had developed and flourished with the accepted understanding that there would be no return to the situation which had existed between Israel and Syria up to June 1967. The settlement project had advanced without any evaluation of the significance of this understanding and without any demand for public discourse to deeply distinguish between the circumstances preceding the Six Day War, based on the absence of a Syrian–Israeli peace treaty, and a possible reality which might develop on the basis of such a peace agreement. With no peace agreement on the horizon until then, only in 1992 was the wide support for Golan settlement confronted with another possibility. There was a

Introduction   3 subsequent change in the Golan “settlement climate” and supporters were compelled to deal with policies which would cause them harm, without undermining the principle of no return to the pre-­June 1967 state of affairs. The leadership of Israel on both sides of the political spectrum advanced this possibility, as did a significant sector of the Israeli population, to a greater extent than is generally thought; the policy was even accepted with understanding by many of the Golan residents themselves. Perhaps the gap which exists between memory and history in everything connected to the Golan Heights and Israeli–Syrian relations is the central factor explaining why no peace agreement has yet been achieved between the two states; this despite the great effort which both sides and their mediators, and especially the United States, have invested in the negotiating process which took place between 1992 and 2000, and in spite of the interest both sides and the international community have had in achieving such an agreement. An investigation of the political process up to now indicates that, on the important points which have been the focus of peace talks, such as security arrangements, the use of water sources and the essence of the relations between the two countries, agreements could have been reached which would have safeguarded the interests of both countries. On the other hand, two salient points seemed to have prevented reaching a final peace treaty: 1 the lack of agreement regarding sovereignty over the narrow strip of land, about 12 kilometers long, northeast of Lake Kinneret; and 2 the use which Israeli leaders who negotiated with Syria – Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak – have made of Israeli public opinion regarding an agreement which they would present to the Israeli population, in order to pressure the United States into accepting the Israeli position in the negotiations. What these two points have in common is the great weight of psychological and emotional factors, influenced by the personal memories of the leaders of both sides, by the inexact, incorrect or even misleading information that the Israeli public has received about the details of the dispute between the two states since 1948, and by the the collective memory which has been constructed on the basis of this information. This makes it important to know the historical facts of the Golan “story,” combined with the details of the Syrian–Israeli dispute, and to present this story to anyone who is required to deal with the issue and to make decisions, and principally to the Israeli public, which is, to a great extent, an a priori condition for any political process. This will make it easier for decision-­makers to focus on the need to find a solution which will serve the interests of their countries. It will also make it possible for public opinion to be cognizant of the process and to examine it in a businesslike manner and with objectivity based on the facts and distanced as much as possible from emotional considerations.

Majdal Shams Neve Ativ Ein Qinia Mas’ade Odem El Rom

Buk’ata

Merom Solan

Kela

Ortal

Ein Zivan

Alone Habashan

Kidmat Tzvi

Katzrin Had-Nes

Keshet Ani’am Yonatan

Ma’ale Gamla Kanaf Ramot

Natur Ramat Magshimim Haspin Avne Etan Nov Geshur Yoav Giv’et Bene Yehuda Eliad Ne’ot Golan Afik Metzar Kefar Haruv

Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret)

Mevo Hama

Map I.1  The Golan settlements.

1 The borders between Israel and Syria One international border, multiple lines

The armistice lines between Israel and Syria are “not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements.” (Article V of the 1949 Armistice Agreements)

In March 2000 US President Bill Clinton met with the President of Syria, Hafez al-­Assad, in Geneva. The Syrian president had arrived at the meeting accompanied by a large Syrian delegation, knowing in advance that the American President would inform him that his demands regarding the borderline between Syria and Israel had been accepted by Israel. In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Barak was awaiting the results of the meeting and the call to join the two presidents for a tripartite meeting during which the long political negotiations between the two countries would culminate in a peace treaty. In Geneva, Clinton presented Assad with a border drafted by Barak which was based on the retreat of the waterline of Lake Kinneret and which had been drawn about 500 meters east of its coastline. In terms of the Syrian presence in the area on the eve of the Six Day War, the line included territory which had not been under Syrian control in 1967. However, in one small area, the border passed 50 meters east of the pre-­1967 Syrian line. Assad refused to accept this proposal and thus ended a political process of more than eight years of negotiations without a peace treaty. In the political discussions between Syria and Israel from 1991 to 2000, the determination of the permanent border had been in dispute, but the disagreement had been reduced to a matter of minor adjustments to the international border. Syria demanded that the permanent border be based on the line which had existed on the eve of the Israeli capture of the Golan, termed the “fourth of June line.” In contrast to the international border, this line was not agreed upon nor was it marked, and thus, its determination would have involved prior agreement about the principles on which it had been based. As opposed to what is generally thought, in the strip of land which was the focus of disagreement between the two countries – northeast of Lake Kinneret and the Jordan highlands – the fourth of June line is not located west of the international border. The drop in the level of the lake by a few meters had meant that the Syrian line on the eve of the Six Day War in the northeast of the lake was, in 2000, located a few hundred meters

6   Between Israel and Syria east of the coast as it had existed. As a result, agreeing to the Syrian demand to receive the entire area it had held on 4 June 1967 would have distanced it from the lake waterline. Before discussion of the Golan Heights, or consideration of the border relations between Syria and Israel and the political negotiations which they have conducted, it is important to become acquainted with the terms “the international border of 1923” and the “armistice line of 1949,” in addition to the “fourth of June line,” and to understand how they were designed.

The international border of 1923 The international border of 1923 was the first and only permanent political border established between Syria and Palestine, and between Lebanon and Palestine. The governments of Great Britain and France reached agreement, setting the border from the Mediterranean coast to El-­Hama, approved in March 1923 by both governments and implemented in 1924.1 Recognition by the international community completed the delineation of the political borders of Palestine after the southern international border with Egypt had been approved in 1921, and the border with Transjordan had been determined in 1922. The process of determining the international border lasted seven years (1916–1923). It had begun at the height of the war and consisted of five stages: October 1916 – The Sykes–Picot Agreement; October 1918 – Establishment of Occupied Enemy Territory (OET) South, North and East; September 1919 – The Deauville Agreement; 23 October 1920 – The Paris Agreement; 7 March 1923 – The Newcombe-­Paulet Agreement. The formation of the international border is described in Appendix A. Determination of the border expressed the international balance of power after World War I, with Great Britain as the strongest power and the only one which maintained a significant military presence in the area. Thus, Britain succeeded in changing the Sykes–Picot Agreement to its own advantage, and to the detriment of the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon. Zionist historiography has dealt with the question of the relative impact of the Zionist Movement and Jewish settlement in the Galilee on the determination of the border. Zionist political activity was based on the personal relationships of representatives of the Zionist viewpoint, and especially Chaim Weizmann, with the British and with figures in the international political system. But it appears that Britain, in its desire to expand the area of Palestine and to retain control of most of the water sources, was acting in its own political interests. The contribution of the Zionist Movement in this respect was that its demand to include the Litani River, Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights up to the Hijazi Railroad within the territory of Palestine aided Britain in its negotiations with France. However, it appears that neither the four Jewish settlements in the Upper Galilee (Metulla, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai and Hamra), all of which had been abandoned during the period of negotiations, nor the events which had agitated the Jewish population in Palestine at the time, had any impact on British positions.

Between Israel and Syria   7 The determination of political borders in a rural living space which had not been subject to political limitations created practical problems in daily life. A committee established to discuss these problems formulated a “good neighbor” agreement, and this enabled free passage for the residents of the border area to operate means of production which were located in another country, reaffirmed the rights of Syrian residents to fish in Lake Hula, the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret, and determined work procedures to deal with possible future problems. Until the Arab Revolt broke out in the British Mandate in April 1936, border supervision was extremely lax. In practice, there was free passage of people and products. This was especially striking during the 1930s; there were more employment opportunities in Palestine and many Syrian citizens crossed the border seeking work during a serious drought in southern Syria. After the Peel Commission had published its findings in July 1937, proposing to divide the territory of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state, the Arab Revolt resumed. This led the British government to act to close off the northern border in order to prevent the supply of aid to the rebel groups. World War II and the fall of France to Germany strengthened the political status of the border and, for about a year, from the end of 1940 to 1941, the tension between the two hostile states was high. The border between Syria and Palestine began to develop an ethnic character with the establishment of Jewish settlements in the area. On the eve of the United Nations decision of 29 November 1947 to partition Palestine, there were 14 Jewish settlements along the border. In 1946, the French Mandate had ended in Syria which had then become independent. Syria rejected the border agreement between France and Britain and demanded that the border pass through the more water abundant areas – the Hula Lake, the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret. In November 1946, it served Britain with a demand to readjust the border, which Britain refused. Syria’s demand was also expressed in military steps. In two cases, on 20 October 1947 and on 9 January 1948, Syrian forces crossed into Tel Dan, one of the water sources in the area, and in response, the British activated the Trans-­Jordanian Frontier Force and the armored corps of the airborne division to eject them. However, towards the end of the British Mandate in Palestine in 1948, control of the border deteriorated and it was ultimately almost totally unsupervised. The international borders of Palestine have withstood the test of military conflicts and political events between Israel and its neighbors. The permanent border between Israel and Egypt was set (1979) precisely according to its original determination, as was the border between Israel and Jordan (1994). Moreover, the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon (May 2000) correlated with the border set by United Nations experts (a border which reflected troop deployment in 1978), and in principle corresponded to the international border. Syria and Israeli remain in disagreement about the permanent border dividing them, but despite changes in government on both sides of the border in addition to the three wars between the countries, the international border has not lost its

8   Between Israel and Syria validity. It was and continues to be a basic concept in the political process toward a peace agreement between the two states. In 1946, with the establishment of an independent Syria, it remained the border between Syria and Mandatory Palestine. In the United Nations Resolution of 29 November 1947, this line was adopted as the border between Syria and the State of Israel. On 20 July 1949, an armistice agreement was signed according to which Syria withdrew its forces to its side of this border after having occupied territories west of it, and the line was termed “the international boundary between Syria and Palestine” in the articles of the agreement. Through the years of conflict between Syria and Israel (1948–1967), Israel continued to seek recognition of the international boundary as its permanent border with Syria. With the conquest of the Golan Heights by Israel on 10 June 1967, a ceasefire line was determined on the Golan. After expansion of this occupation in October 1973, on 31 May 1974, a disengagement line was established leaving most of the Golan in Israeli hands. However, on 19 June 1967, the national unity government in Israel had adopted a decision expressing its willingness to reach a peace agreement with Syria on the basis of the international border, with assurances of rights to the water sources in Israel. As no political negotiations were forthcoming, the Israeli government determined a more general policy regarding the peace border, based on United Nations Resolution 242 (and later, Resolution 338) regarding the evacuation from land which had been occupied by Israel and the negation of acquisition of land by war. In 1981, the government of Israel applied Israeli law on the Golan Heights, but nevertheless, did not invalidate its obligation to uphold Security Council resolutions and continued to see its cancellation of the military government in the Golan as a temporary arrangement until a peace treaty could be adopted. In 1991, the Madrid Conference was convened, based on the fact that Syria had also accepted Resolutions 242 and 338 as a basis for peace negotiations. In the political process which ensued between Israel and Syria, with the mediation of the United States between 1992 and 2000, all of the prime ministers of Israel agreed to the demand of Syrian President Assad that the international peace border would not be the international border, but would be based on the situation which existed in the area on 4 June 1967, before Israel had conquered the Golan.

The armistice agreement, 1949 On 15 May 1948, Syrian armed forces invaded the State of Israel along the southern sector of border – from south of Lake Kinneret. They captured Tzemach, Masada and Sha’ar Hagolan and were halted at the gates of Kibbutz Degania A and Degania B. They were then pushed eastward. Even though they failed to capture Ein Gev, from 21 May they occupied the southeastern Kinneret region from Tzemach eastward. Three weeks later, on 6 June, the Syrian army attacked in the central sector, captured Mishmar Hayarden and continued on to Hirbet Yarda (between Ayelet Hashachar and Mahanaim, about two kilometers to the east). According to the ceasefire lines, which defined the situation at the

Between Israel and Syria   9 end of the fighting, the Syrians held land west of the international border in three sectors: in the north, Ramat Habanias (the area between the Banias and the Dan rivers, and west of Tel Azzaziat); in the center, from the environs of Dardara, south of the Hula Lake, a wedge in the area of the Jordan River and the peak of Hirbet Yarda, as well as the west of the Jordan estuary into Lake Kinneret, to Tel Motilla (today Almagor); in the south, that is, in the southeast of Lake Kinneret, from the coastal point located about two kilometers north of the present site of Kibbutz Ha’on up to a point which was later the site of Kibbutz Maagan. On 20 June 1949 a armistice agreement was signed between Syria and Israel. For the developments which led to this agreement, see Appendix A. The armistice demarcation line – where is the Green Line between Israel and Syria? The armistice agreement defined the armistice line, determined by the line including territory which Syria had captured in the war. The area west of this line was the sovereign territory of Israel. The areas located between the armistice line and the international border were defined as demilitarized zones (DMZ) whose fate would be determined in peace negotiations which would take place between the two countries in the future. The armistice line delimited the three demilitarized areas to the west. In these areas, which measured a total of 65 square kilometers, there were seven Arab villages with a population of about 2,500 inhabitants2 and the only Jewish settlement among them – the village of Mishmar Hayarden – had been destroyed during the war and was abandoned. According to the agreement, areas determined as belonging to the State of Israel according to the UN decision of November 1947 had remained on the far side (to the east) of the “Green Line.” These areas were: the southeast of Lake Kinneret from the waterline at a point between Kibbutz Ein Gev and Kibbutz Ha’on up to Kibbutz Ma’agan; an area in the northern Kinneret – a triangle from west of the Jordan whose vertex was at Tel Motilla (Almagor); the area around the B’not Ya’akov Bridge – a triangle west of the Jordan whose vertex was at Khirbet Yarda, and the area of the present-­day Kibbutz Gadot and the present Moshav Mishmar Hayarden, as well as a strip about 100 meters wide, west of the Jordan, in the area of the Jordan River highlands to the Hula; in the northern sector – the Banias Heights. Kibbutz Ein Gev and its environs as well as Dardara, east of Lake Hula, remained to the west of the armistice lines according to the agreement, but Israel was forbidden to bring troops or auxiliary military personnel into the area. A strip of ten meters east of the Kinneret shoreline, northeast of the lake, which would later become a bone of contention and a cause of military conflicts, was not included in the demilitarized zone, and according to the armistice agreement, was under Israeli sovereignty. The Green Line was the armistice line determined in the agreements between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. However, a look at Israeli maps issued before 1967 reveals that, in the sector of the border between Israel and

10   Between Israel and Syria Syria, the marking designated as the Green Line is located on the international border and not on the armistice line. This left the mistaken impression that the demilitarized areas were located within the Green Line, and this impression affected the attitude of the Israeli public about the conflict which was conducted over control of these areas.

The Sheba’a Farms – seasonal settlements built by Lebanese inhabitants in Syrian territory The northern border of the Golan – the political border between Syria and Lebanon – was delineated after World War I. In contrast to other borders, it was not determined as a political border between different mandates, but rather, as an administrative dividing line within the French Mandate area between Syria and Lebanon. The government of France determined the line in 1920–1921, when they decided to separate Lebanon from Syria. The geopolitical reality of a non-­ binding administrative border continued to exist after Lebanon and Syria became independent states, due to Syrian involvement in Lebanese affairs, to terrain conditions, and to the area inhabitants’ way of life. The border ranged from the meeting point of the borders of Lebanon–Israel–Syria, south of the Ghajar Bridge, northwards from the west bank of the Hatzbani River to opposite the village of Ghajar. At this point, there is conflicting evidence regarding the border. Both French and Israeli maps which were published until 1967 mark the border south of the village, so that the entire village is in Lebanese territory. On other maps, both French maps after 1945, British maps, and Israeli maps after 1967, the border passes north of the village (that is, in terms of its location and size in 1967). In the French Mandate census of 1945, it appears as a Syrian village (Census 1945). In 1955, as well, the village was considered as Syrian, belonging to the district of Kuneitra, and in the Syrian census of 1960, it is listed as one of the district villages (Census 1960). Nevertheless, its inhabitants continued to move freely through Lebanese territory and continued to use the waters of the Wazzani River which is nearby. The village was occupied by Israeli forces on 10 June 1967. From Ghajar, the border passes about two kilometers northeast until crossing the Banias-­Marjayoun road, and from there, southeast on the eastern side of the road for two kilometers to the southwestern foothills of the Hermon; from there, it turns northward to Mount Agas, at a height of 1,350 meters, and then, to the southern peak of Mount Dov (Jebel Rous) at a height of 1,529 meters, and to its northern peak at 1,524 meters. From there, the border continues northeastward along the watershed line up to the Hermon peak, at an altitude of 2,814 meters. The political border between Syria and Lebanon did not have any practical expression. The sparse population of the area, the topography and the weather conditions did not permit permanent settlement. The highest permanent villages, Khader, Majdal Shams and Sheba’a, were located on the slopes of Mount Hermon and their political location was defined. The village of Khader, on the northeastern slopes, is located at an altitude of 1,200 meters and in Syrian

Between Israel and Syria   11 territory. Six kilometers southwest, Majdal Shams is 1,200 meters high, also in Syrian territory but conquered by Israel during the Six Day War. The highest permanent settlement in the area is the village of Sheba’a, at an altitude of 1,300 meters on the northwestern slopes of Mount Hermon within the borders of Lebanon. The absence of any practical expression of the political border between Syria and Lebanon in the Hermon area, its non-­functioning as a border and the fact that it was completely open and easily crossed was expressed in the development of the villages and the surrounding paths and roads. The inhabitants of the village of Sheba’a, located in Lebanon, also had a village in the foothills of the Hermon and the border of the Hula Valley, called Mughor Sheba’a or a-­Shaban (the caves of Sheba’a). The distance from this village to Sheba’a is about 11 kilometers at a descent of about 1,000 meters. Mughor Sheba’a is listed in the Syrian census as a permanent Syrian village of 244 inhabitants (Census 1960). This census also refers to an agricultural farm (“mazra’a”) which was established on the incline from the village of Sheba’a to Mughor Sheba’a, located in Syrian territory. These villages known as the “Sheba’a Farms” were set up by the Lebanese villagers of the surroundings in an area which, according to maps, belongs to Syria. During the French Mandate, this created a dispute over the right to use the land and the water of the area. French administrators tried to settle the disagreement. They discovered the gap between the claims of the inhabitants of the farms that Lebanese land extended to Wadi al-­Assal (the Sion River), which passes east of the farms and thus, they were in Lebanese territory, in contrast to the border as it was drawn on the maps. In the end, the French administrators allowed the Lebanese residents to stay and to make their livings from agriculture (Kaufman 2002). In the French census of 1945, the Sheba’a Farms were not included in the list of settlements in the Damascus district, which listed all of the other Golan settlements. On the other hand, in the Syrian census of August 1960, they appeared as Syrian settlements in the district of Kuneitra, with a total of 1,567 inhabitants (see Appendix B). In a survey of the area after the Six Day War, 20 points of settlement were identified and surveyed, some of which had been built upon ancient sites. Table 1.1  The Sheba’a Farms Name of site

Reference point

Name of site

Reference point

Mougr Shebaa N. G. 303 M Lower Mougr Shebaa Upper Mougr Shebaa Zibdin Zibdin South Khilet Gazaleh Fashkoul Wadi Mughar Farm Kafweh

2625/7992 2634/7965 2633/7963 2633/7965 2646/7977 2640/7968 2629/7974 2631/7979 2624/7984 2637/7988

BM 786 M Ramta Jebel Soummaq Dora Dora North Barakhta Jebel Rous Khurta (Migdal Naqar) Upper Wadi al Assal

2628/7992 2654/7987 2659/8008 2678/7999 2678/8002 2682/8015 2675/8031 2689/8037 2691/8021

12   Between Israel and Syria The lack of commitment to the border found expression in the way roads had been planned and functioned. The peak of the Hermon, 2,814 meters high, was marked as Lebanese territory on the map. The roads leading to this summit, however, came solely from Syrian territory, from Kalat Jundal in the east, and from the direction of Majdal Shams from the south, although they strayed into Lebanese territory in a few sections. This area was used by inhabitants passing on foot between Syria and Lebanon and it continued to serve this function even after Israel had conquered the southwestern Hermon slopes.

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