Surprise! Netanyahu tours Syrian Golan, says IDF will remain ‘until alternative solution found’

JERUSALEM – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood atop the Syrian part of Mt. Hermon flanked by IDF soldiers as he surveyed the geopolitical manifestation of all his country has achieved since those darkest of days in October 2023.

Standing alongside the heads of the defense establishment, including IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu announced Israel would maintain a presence at the site, “until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.”

He added, dramatically, the events in Syria are occurring at a dizzying pace, “and their consequences could determine fates.”

Netanyahu allowed himself a moment of nostalgia, recalling how the last time he stood in the same spot was in 1971.

“I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers on a Sayeret Matkal patrol,” he said. “The place hasn’t changed, it’s the same place, but its importance to Israel’s security has only been reinforced in recent years, and especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events taking place here below us in Syria.”

Netanyahu in Syria pic.twitter.com/xA2B7JTXYN

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 17, 2024

Only some seven percent of the Mt. Hermon was in Israel’s hands a mere two weeks ago, and due to its elevation it is an extremely important strategic point. Before the demilitarized zone was established in 1974 following the cessation of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Syrian artillery would regularly pepper Israeli military positions, as well as farmers below attempting to tend to the crops in their fields. Having now taken them in a lightning maneuver, Israel will obviously be loath to relinquish control to any of the groups vying for ascendancy in Syria until security guarantees can be assured.

Unsurprisingly, the United Nations, which has never knowingly missed an opportunity to put the boot into Israel, labeled Israel’s move into the demilitarized zone as a “violation” of the 50-year-old ceasefire agreement.

Israel has made clear it does not view its presence in what was formerly part of Syria as a permanent solution, arguing it only did so to prevent jihadist groups scrambling for authority in a country that is coming apart at the seams from taking such crucial high ground.

Meanwhile, the prime minister flatly denied he was due to make a secret trip to Cairo on Tuesday, as hopes have recently been raised about the possibility of a hostage deal with Gaza’s rulers, Hamas.

For seasoned Netanyahu watchers, the claims and counter-claims of where the prime minister is or is not, can be somewhat infuriating – and the prime minister is not beyond obfuscating his intentions or whereabouts. Some commentators pieced together that the rumor which started with Reuters could have been true, as Netanyahu’s corruption trial was briefly halted Tuesday, as matters of state took precedence.

Still, the apparent disappointment at Netanyahu’s non-arrival in Cairo has not dampened expectations of a hostage deal soon being signed. Both Hebrew and Arab-language media have been increasingly bullish about the chances of at least some of the Israeli captives being released.

Meanwhile, there are additional noises about the two sides remaining far apart as to the number of Israeli hostages being released, and how many violent, convicted Palestinian terrorists should be let go from incarceration in Israeli jails.

Reports in Arab-language media made a number of claims, including an Egyptian summons to Hamas representatives to appear in Cairo on Thursday and provide information on the “fate of a number of hostages,” including evidence they are still alive.

Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen news station reported that Egypt also invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “for an urgent visit.”

U.S. mediators have joined their Egyptian and Qatari counterparts in pushing hard for a deal, presumably to provide a somewhat positive bookend to President Joe Biden’s abject failure of his four-year term of office, particularly in the realm of foreign policy.