Israel wasted no time after Bashar al-Assad\u2019s fall to bomb all the Syrian military assets it wanted to keep out of the rebels\u2019 hands \u2013 striking nearly 500 targets, destroying the navy, and taking out, it claims, 90% of Syria\u2019s known surface-to-air missiles. <\/p>\n
But it is Israel\u2019s capture of Syria\u2019s highest peak, the Mount Hermon summit, that may prove among the most lasting prizes \u2013 though officials have insisted that its occupation is temporary. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the highest place in the region, looking upon Lebanon, upon Syria, Israel,\u201d said Efraim Inbar, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). \u201cIt\u2019s strategically extremely important. There is no substitute for mountains.\u201d <\/p>\n
The summit of Mount Hermon lies in Syria, in a buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces for fifty years until last weekend, when Israeli troops took control of it. Until Sunday, the summit was demilitarized and patrolled by UN peacekeepers \u2013 their highest permanent position in the world. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s defense minister, Israel Katz, on Friday ordered the military to prepare for the harsh conditions of winter deployment. \u201cDue to developments in Syria, it is of immense security importance to maintain our control over the summit of Mount Hermon,\u201d he said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau in southwestern Syria that abuts Mount Hermon, in the 1967 war and has occupied it since. Syria attempted to retake the territory in a surprise attack in 1973, but failed, and Israel annexed it in 1981. The occupation is illegal under international law, but the United States recognized Israel\u2019s claim on the Golan during the Trump administration. <\/p>\n
Israel has for decades held some lower slopes of Mount Hermon, and even operates a ski resort there, but the peak remained in Syria proper. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no intention to intervene in Syria\u2019s internal affairs,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video days after Israel bombed hundreds of Syrian targets and seized the demilitarized buffer zone. \u201cBut we certainly intend to do everything necessary to take care of our security.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mount Hermon\u2019s summit is a tremendous asset under Israel\u2019s control. At 9,232 feet (2,814 meters), it is higher than any point in Syria or Israel, and second to only one peak in Lebanon. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople sometimes say in the age of missiles, land is not important \u2013 it\u2019s simply untrue,\u201d Inbar said. <\/p>\n
In an academic paper published in 2011, he wrote of the many advantages presented by Mount Hermon. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt enables the use of electronic surveillance deep into Syrian territory, giving Israel early-warning capacity in case of an impending attack,\u201d he wrote. Advanced technological alternatives like airborne surveillance, he argued, was simply not comparable. \u201cIn contrast to an installation on a mountain, these cannot carry heavy equipment such as big antennas, and they can be shot down by anti-air missiles.\u201d <\/p>\n
The peak is just over 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) from Damascus, which means that control of its Syrian foothills \u2013 also now in IDF hands \u2013 put the Syrian capital within range for artillery cannons. <\/p>\n
The Israeli prime minister has said his \u201chand is extended\u201d to the new government in Syria. But in the post-October 7 world, he and other national security heavyweights have made clear they are not going to take any chances. <\/p>\n
\u201cMostly, it\u2019s a comfort for us,\u201d retired Brigadier General Israel Ziv said of Israel\u2019s operations in Syria. \u201cWe have learned what happened in other countries when you have a terror organization that captures military equipment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Netanyahu has also insisted that the occupation is temporary. \u201cIsrael will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7 style attacks,\u201d he said. His criteria for withdrawing, he said, was a Syrian force \u201cthat is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.\u201d <\/p>\n
It is unclear when that may be achieved. <\/p>\n
Whether the military withdraws \u201cis a political decision,\u201d Inbar said. \u201cThe military would love to stay there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mike Schwartz and Tim Lister contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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