Defense minister, in Syria buffer zone, says IDF to stay indefinitely
Visiting position on Syrian side of Mount Hermon, Katz vows Israel will not allow ‘hostile forces’ to gain a foothold in area, or be dependent on others for security in area
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces will remain there indefinitely, apparently backtracking on repeated assurances from Israel that the move was temporary.
“The IDF will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north, and all the residents of Israel,” Katz said, apparently referring to a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border that Israel seized following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last month.
“We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria… we will act against any threat,” he said. “We will not be dependent on others for our security.”
Katz said Israel will make contact with “friendly populations” in the southern Syria area, “with an emphasis on the large Druze community which has historic and close family relations with our Druze brothers in Israel.”
The defense minister visited an army post at the Mount Hermon summit, where he held an assessment with senior officers and spoke with troops, according to his office.
Israel has previously described its takeover of the buffer zone as a temporary measure aimed at preventing hostile forces from taking advantage of the power vacuum in Syria to enter the strategic zone and threaten Israeli territory.
Katz’s remarks came as the IDF published footage showing the construction of what it called a “temporary” army posts atop the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where troops have been deployed since last month.
The military says the Technological and Logistics Directorate provided troops with insulated structures and equipment to reside on the mountain during the harsh winter weather.
Among the structures erected in the army posts is a medical building that is equipped to treat cold weather injuries.
The IDF provided the forces with generators, heating devices, and clothing and shoes for snow.
After the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria on December 8, the country’s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, responded to Israeli concerns and offered reassurance that the new Syrian government would not threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria.
Sharaa has also asserted that Israel had a right to target Iranian-backed forces, who supported Assad and backed Hezbollah, prior to the former Syrian leader’s fall, but he said that Israel has no legitimate basis to keep operating in Syria since the regime change.
Israel has also signaled its desire to have “correct ties” with the new regime, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December, but “if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.”
Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations and have formally been in a state of war since Israel declared independence in 1948.
While the fall of the Assad regime, which stood for over five decades, could provide a historic opportunity for recognition between Israel and its neighbor, the Jewish state maintains concern that the new leadership in Syria could lead to further chaos and serve as a breeding ground for a resurgence of terror in the region.
