With Israel and Lebanon working towards a longstanding peaceful settlement and neutralizing Hezbollah’s terrorist machinery, the moment has arrived for a full normalization with Syria too. This means diplomatic recognition, economic ties, and a strategic partnership under the Abraham Accords umbrella, not just a limited security pact.

Under this framework, Israel should retain control over the pre-2024 Golan Heights—about 1,200 square kilometers of strategic high ground annexed in 1981 and essential for defense—while Damascus gains stability and a path into a moderate regional bloc.

Syrian control of the Golan from 1948 to 1967 turned this territory into a launchpad for aggression. Damascus positioned more than 265 artillery pieces along the heights, supported by fortified bunkers, trenches, minefields, and snipers. Syrian forces and allied Palestinian commandos shelled Israeli kibbutzim in the Hula Valley and the Galilee for nearly two decades.

On April 7, 1967, Syrian artillery unleashed more than 300 shells on Kibbutz Gadot in just 40 minutes, part of a broader barrage that destroyed homes and forced civilians into shelters. Mount Hermon served as a Syrian observation post and staging ground for cross-border raids. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Syrian armor and rockets overran sections of the Golan before Israeli forces reversed the advance. Patently, the plateau enabled repeated attacks on Israeli civilians.

Today the opposite holds: under Israeli........

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