Golan Heights

Golan Heights, strategic upland region (2003 est. pop. 10,500), c.500 sq mi (1,250 sq km), SW Syria. It borders S Lebanon, NE Israel, and NW Jordan. It takes its name from the ancient city of Golan and was known as Gaulanitis in New Testament times. It is a rocky plateau overlooking Israel where elevations range from c.6,500 ft (2,000 m) in the north to below sea level along the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) and the Yarmuk River in the south. The Golan Heights were fortified and used for artillery attacks on Israel after 1948. The region was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 (see Arab-Israeli Wars) and formally annexed by Israel in 1981, an act that was not internationally recognized. A number of Israeli settlements have been established in the area; the region has become an important source of water for Israel. Ultimate control of the Golan Heights has been a stumbling block to Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

Arabic Al-Jawlān

Hilly area, southwestern Syria. It overlooks the upper Jordan River valley; its maximum elevation is 7,297 ft (2,224 m). It was occupied by the Israeli army during the Six-Day War of 1967. After the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, a UN buffer zone was established between Syrians and Israelis in the heights. In 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the part of the Golan that it held. Talks between the two countries on the status of the heights began in 2000.

Learn more about Golan Heights with a free trial on Britannica.com.

The Golan Heights Law is the Israeli law which applies Israel's government and laws to the Golan Heights. It was ratified by the Knesset on December 14, 1981.

The law was passed half a year before Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. Unusually, all three reading took place on the same day. This procedure was heavily criticized by the centre-left opposition. Substantially, the law has mainly been criticized for potentially hindering future negotiations with Syria.

While the Israeli public at large, and especially the law's critics, viewed it as an annexation, the law avoids the use of the word. Prime Minister Menahem Begin responded to Amnon Rubinstein's criticism by saying: "you use the word 'annexation', I do not use it" and noting that similar wording was used in a 1967 law authorizing the government to apply Israeli law to any part of the Land of Israel. The earlier law only covered those areas included in the British Mandate, requiring a separate law for the Golan Heights (these were included in the French Mandate of Syria).

The law

The three broad provisions in the Golan Heights Law are:

1. "The Law, jurisdiction and administration of the State will take effect in the Golan Heights, as described in the Appendix."

2. "This Law will begin taking effect on the day of its acceptance in the Knesset."

3. "The Minister of the Interior is placed in-charge of the implementation of this Law, and is entitled, in consultation with the Minister of Justice, to enact regulations for its implementation and to formulate regulations on interim provisions regarding the continued application of regulations, directives, administrative directives, and rights and duties which were in effect in the Golan Heights prior to the acceptance of this Law."

Signed:

• Yitzhak Navon (President)
• Menahem Begin (Prime Minister)
• Yosef Burg (Interior Minister)
• Passed in the Knesset with a majority of 63 in favour, 21 against.

See also

• International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict