Katz to Sharaa: Golan is eternal part of Israel, we won’t pull out of Syria buffer zone

Responding to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s insistence that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory, Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the strategic plateau in the northeast is “an integral, eternal part of Israel,” and that the IDF will not withdraw from a buffer zone it has held in Syria since Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in 2024.

“We will not withdraw from Mount Hermon and the security zone, which were captured in heroic fighting during the 1973 defensive war and handed over to Syria under the 1974 disengagement agreement, under clear conditions that were violated, as Syria became an Iranian base and a threat to Israel and its borders,” says Katz in a statement, referring to the 1973 Yom Kippur War and diplomacy that followed.

Israel, he continues, “will remain on Mount Hermon and in the security zone as long as there is a jihadist threat to the border and Israeli communities, whether from your security forces or from other jihadist organizations and groups in Syria.”

If Israel is attacked from Syria, he warns, “any territory we take this time will remain ours forever, in accordance with the laws of war.”

“We will not allow Syria to become a threat to Israel, and we will act as necessary to prevent this,” Katz promises.

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, but most of the international community considers it Syrian territory.