The Jewish Agency announced today that it will establish 22 more settlements in the Golan Heights, bringing the total to 32 since the June, 1967 Six-Day War, when the Syrian territory was seized by Israel in bloody fighting. A Jewish Agency official said that Israel had invested more than $5 million in the Golan Heights and planned to invest $5 million more. For the time being, settlers are using abandoned Syrian Army camps as temporary quarters. Another project in the region will be development of six miles of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee which had formerly been within the range of Syrian guns on the Heights. Israel has approved about 70 requests from Syrians for permission to join their families in the occupied Heights, but Syrian authorities refused to let them go, it was disclosed in the Knesset (Parliament) last week.
As the Year Turns, Support the Journalism You Trust. JTA covers the stories shaping Jewish life around the world — with the depth this moment calls for. As you reflect on the year ahead, consider a gift that keeps independent Jewish journalism strong.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
