Israeli Golan residents tell government to 'wake up'
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Eli Malka, head of the Golan Regional Council, expressed concern that with violence in Syria spilling over into the Golan, inaction by the Israeli government might lead to residents there living under conditions similar to those of communities along the border with Gaza.
Sgt. Shahar Shalev, the 72nd casualty of Operation Protective Edge, was laid to rest Sept. 2 at a funeral in the Hispin community on the Golan Heights. Shalev hailed from the neighboring community of Alonei HaBashan, less than a kilometer from the Syrian border.
Echoes of nearby explosions could be heard in the area, resonating from the battles between the Syrian army and the rebels opposing the government. The Israel Defense Forces occasionally blocked roads and redirected traffic onto alternative routes, worried that the gun or mortar fire might spillover. Residents from the northern Golan Heights who made their way to the funeral were constantly updated about the dynamic, constantly changing map of blocked roads. They have been watching as their quiet, pastoral lives undergo an abrupt change.
Over the past two years, the civil war in Syria and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's teetering regime led to a change in Israel's military deployment across the Golan Heights. An ominous fence was built separating Israeli-controlled Golan from Syria, and various protection measures were put in place. Yet the region has remained peaceful throughout the entire time.
Something changed, however, during the past few weeks. Security incidents in Syria have become more intense, and they are increasingly seeping across the border. Disconcerting incidents on the Golan from the past few days alone include a Syrian drone being shot down by the air force after it penetrated Israeli airspace Aug. 31, a tank shell striking a winery in the northern Golan Aug. 27, and fighting in Quneitra, which interfered with apple-picking season on the kibbutzim Merom Golan and Ein Zivan, because their orchards were frequently declared closed military zones.
