The Israeli government voted on Sunday unanimously in favor of a NIS 40 million ($11 million) plan to promote demographic growth in the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, in the wake of the latest geopolitical developments in Syria.
“In light of the war and the new front in Syria, and from a willingness to double the Golan’s population, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed for the Cabinet’s approval a first amendment to the plan to encourage demographic growth in the Golan communities and [the city of] Katzrin,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“Strengthening the Golan is the strengthening of the State of Israel, and is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying. “We will continue to hold on to, settle in and [make the Golan Heights] prosper.”
The plan includes enhancing education and renewable energy, establishing a students town and devising a plan to assist the Golan Regional Council in the reception of new residents.
Uri Kellner, head of the Golan Regional Council, welcomed the move as “good news for the development of the Golan.”
He added that the development of infrastructure, residential buildings and bolstering the local economy will lead to the improvement of locals’ quality of life.
About 58,000 people live on the Israeli Golan—31,000 Jews, 24,000 Druze and 2,800 Alawites in Ghajar.
Arab states in the region condemned the decision, with the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressing the kingdom’s “strong condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli occupation government’s decision to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and its continued sabotaging of Syria’s prospects for restoring its security and stability.”
Qatar joined the condemnations, calling the Cabinet decision “a new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of international law.”
The United Arab Emirates also denounced Jerusalem, saying that the decision “threatens further escalation and tensions in the region.”
These statements came on the backdrop of the recent collapse of the Syrian government. Israel responded by carrying out a massive air campaign against military targets belonging to Bashar Assad’s government to make sure they can’t be used against the Jewish state in the hands of the jihadist rebels who took over the majority of Syria.
Israel further deployed troops to parts of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
Meanwhile, Druze community leaders in southern Syria spoke in favor of being annexed to Israel’s Golan Heights, speaking amid fears of retribution by the Sunni Islamist rebels, as the Druze have been historically loyal to the Assad regime.
According to unverified videos posted to social media, the pronouncement was made during a council meeting of six Druze villages held in Hader, in the Jabal al-Sheikh region on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.