WhatsappYisrael Katz, Israel’s Defense Minister, announced that the IDF will maintain control over Mount Hermon and a security zone to protect Golan Heights and Galilee communities, citing lessons from October 7 and potential northern threats. This comes amid diplomatic talks with Syria and reports of a possible ceasefire. Katz emphasized preventing the Israel-Syria border from becoming a threat and pledged to protect Syria’s Druze population from local forces, underscoring Israel’s moral responsibility.
Israeli officials confirmed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s statement that both nations are working toward a security agreement by late September, though a security source noted on Tuesday that meeting this deadline is unlikely. The proposed deal is a non-aggression pact, with Israel agreeing not to strike inside Syria and Syria ensuring protection for its Druze minority.
Al-Sharaa, in talks with senior Arab journalists, said the agreement builds on the 1974 disengagement accord. He is also set to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next month, marking his first appearance there to deliver a speech, signaling Syria’s push to restore its international standing.
“The Israeli army will remain on Mount Hermon and in the security zone necessary to protect the Golan Heights and Galilee communities from threats emanating from the Syrian side, as a main lesson from the events of October 7. We will also continue to protect the Druze in Syria.”
With news reports insinuating that Israel was ready to retreat to the previous 1974 lines, Defense Minister Katz’s statements are extremely important in setting redlines for the coming non-aggression pact seemingly being forced on Israel by the Trump administration.
Jerusalem appears ready to appease Trump’s team but not at all costs - especially if it means giving up the high ground and abandoning the Druze. The Hermon is the tallest mountain west of the Euphrates, and it enables Israel to simultaneously defend against threats in southern Lebanon and Syria, thus cutting down the need for increased troop deployment. If the Trump team wants to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East, Israel’s indefinite control over the Hermon is key.
The question arises as to why Trump’s team would be ok with Israel staying in parts of Syria, given the fact that it prevents full normalization with Syria. The reality is that Israel on the Hermon serves Jolani’s needs. He knows he cannot normalize, no matter what Israel does, so better to let Israel stay and appease the Trump administration. Jolani can claim Syria is still occupied.
For its part, Israel cannot give ground in Lebanon if it is required to vacate the Hermon and the Bashan area of Syria. So the deal that is being cooked up is that Israel remains in occupation of southwestern Syria, but must pull back from southern Lebanon. Syria can claim it is still occupied and thus not required to sign any formal peace treaty with Israel.
What about the Druze?
It is clear whether officially protected or covertly, Israel is not giving up on the Druze of Sweida. The Druze of the Bashan will be included in Israel since Israel’s buffer zone roughly follows their villages. Sweida may be farther away, but between the Kurdish SDF and Israeli airdrops and potentially a humanitarian corridor, the Druze of Sweida are moving towards an unofficial autonomy under the protection of Israel and the SDF.
Jolani’s HTS has a very fragile hold over western Syria and if it has any hope of controlling Syria for the long term, it has to quiet its issues with Israel - if that means an autonomous Druze area while Jolani’s forces defend themselves from the SDF - then the decision is clear.
Remember, Syria’s whole purpose right now is to expand Turkey’s control and prevent the SDF and other Kurdish parties from threatening Turkey’s expansion. Despite Erdogan’s rhetoric, he knows Israel and the Druze are not the real threat, but rather the Kurds in northeastern Syria. Syria’s Jihadists may not like allowing the Druze to fall under Israel – even unofficially, but getting crushed by the SDF is far worse.
