Government approves 5-year, billion-shekel plan to develop Golan, give it its 1st city

The government approved on Thursday a plan for the development of the Golan Heights by 2030, with a total investment of approximately NIS 1 billion ($334 million).

The five-year plan will make the small town of Katzrin the Golan’s first city, according to Ze’ev Elkin, a minister in the Finance Ministry tasked with rehabilitating the north and south of the country.

“Today we made history in the Golan Heights: turning Katzrin into the first Israeli city in the Golan and investing nearly one billion shekels in Katzrin and the Golan,” said Elkin in a statement on Thursday.

The government decision, said Elkin, combines “investment in infrastructure, housing, economic growth engines, academia, and public services. Its goal is to bring in thousands of new families and to establish the Golan and Katzrin as a significant demographic and economic growth hub.”

The announcement on Thursday followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting on Monday with Katzrin local council head Yehuda Dua, and Golan Regional Council head Uri Kellner in Jerusalem.

“Not only are ‘the people with the Golan,’ I am with the Golan, the government of Israel is with the Golan, and the people of Israel are truly with the Golan,” Netanyahu said during that meeting, according to his office, riffing on a slogan popular in the late 20th century when then-premier Yitzhak Rabin was talking with Syria about a possible Israeli withdrawal from the area. “Therefore, the Golan is not only staying — that is beyond debate — but I spoke with President Trump when he recognized our sovereignty over the Golan, and now we are coming with a massive development surge. I hope to visit soon.”

In 2019, during his first term in office, US President Donald Trump officially recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, decades after it was annexed by Israel in a move that was never recognized internationally.

Dua said Monday that the city plans to bring 3,000 new families to Katzrin and the Golan Heights by 2030.

“We will strengthen academia, research, and the University of Kiryat Shmona [Tel-Hai College] with a branch in Katzrin, a faculty, and a veterinary hospital,” Dua said.

The government also plans to improve public services and increase employment opportunities in the region on the Syrian and Lebanese borders.

Kellner thanked Netanyahu on Monday for “strengthening the civilian sector and strategically bolstering the status of the Golan and Katzrin to serve as the State of Israel’s line of defense in the northern region.”

The Golan Heights have been hammered over the past several years by Hezbollah rockets, which have caused major damage and sparked wildfires. The overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 also heightened tensions in the Golan, just across the border, with largely unfounded fears of spillover violence.

Although the Golan suffered over 2000 attacks in 2024, officials point out that it was the only northern border municipality that did not evacuate, with 99% of the residents staying put.

“In fact, we even hosted 3000 displaced residents from the Galilee,” a spokesperson said.