SYRIA-ISRAEL: THE GOLAN HEIGHTS IN PERSPECTIVE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83B00851R000400150002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 51
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 11, 2009
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 1, 1982
• Content Type: REPORT

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National
Foreign
Assessment
Center
DIA review
completed.
State Dept. review
completed
in Perspective
Syria-Israel:
The Golan Heights
Secret
Secret
GI 82-10299
January 1982
copy 559
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National Secret
Foreign
Assessment
Center
in Perspective
Syria-Israel:
The Golan Heights
A Research Paper
Information available as of 31 December 1981
has been used in the preparation of this report.
This paper was prepared by analysts in the Near East-
South Asia Branch, Geography Division, Office of Global
Issues, with contributions from the Office of Near East-
South Asia Analysis. Comments and queries are welcome
and may be directed to the Chief, Near East-South Asia
Branch, OGI
South Asia Analysis and with the National Intelligence
Officer for the Near East and South Asia.
Secret
GI 82-10299
January 1982
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Figure.!
Golan Heights
50 Kilometers
1
50 Miles
-' f
Golan-
Heights
(Israeli
occupi
Lake
Tiberias
isra 9 4
t West
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( Bank
(Israeli
occupied)
Jerusal
(Israeli occupied
until 26 April 1982)
Gulf of
Aqaba.
Dead
Sea
Syria
Saudi
Arabia
Saudi
Arabia
Boundary representation is
not necessarily authoritative.
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Mediterranean Sea A
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25X1
Syria-Israel:
25X1
The Golan Heights in Perspective
25X1
Overview Israel's de facto annexation of the Golan Heights on 14 December 1981
culminated a steady tightening of control over the region it had captured
from Syria in 1967 (figure 1). Well before the annexation, most of the
Syrians who had not fled during the fighting had been expelled, many 25X6
Syrian villages had been razed, the Israeli curriculum was being taught
even in the few remaining Arab schools, and 31 Jewish settlements had
been established and transferred from military to civilian control.
Historically, the Golan Heights had never been a part of a unified Jewish
state, and the region had not contained a significant Jewish population for
3,000 years. The Ottoman Empire, the last of a millenium-long succession
of Muslim rulers, governed the area until the end of World War I. Then
France assumed control of it as part of the League of Nations Mandate for
Syria, while Britain assumed control of the neighboring Mandate for
Palestine. In 1922 the two countries established an international boundary
In 1946, the French Mandate was divided and Syria gained its independ-
ence. In 1948, when Britain withdrew from Palestine, Syria and four other
Arab states attacked the new state of Israel as it fought to establish its bor-
ders within Palestine. The Armistice Agreement signed in 1949 left Syria
in control of three small regions in northern Israel. Although they were
Secret
GI 82-10299
January 1982
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demilitarized, competition and conflict over the three regions gradually
escalated and in 1967 provided Israel with its primary justification for
invading Syria following its successful attacks on Egypt and Jordan. By the
time a cease-fire was arranged, Israel was in control of two-thirds of
Syria's agriculturally prosperous westernmost Province of Al Qunaytirah;
it subsequently renamed the region the Golan Heights.
In 1973 Syrian forces attacked Israel and temporarily reoccupied about
half of the Golan Heights before they were repulsed, and agreed to a new
cease-fire line and buffer zone. The 1973 Middle East war proved to be
only a temporary interruption in the gradual "Israelization" of the Golan
Heights.
More than 100,000 Syrian Arabs fled or were expelled from the area
during and after the 1967 fighting. An Israeli census taken soon after the
war counted only 6,400 Syrian nationals on the Golan, most of them Druze
farmers living in a few villages in the north. Since then the Arab
population of these villages has grown to about 14,000. Meanwhile, the
Syrian imprint on the remainder of the Golan has been all but destroyed.
Since 1967 some 6,000 Israelis have settled 31 new Golan communities,
including Katzrin, the administrative and commercial center where the
Israelis plan to house 20,000 citizens. Agriculture-grain, vegetables, fruit,
and livestock-is the predominant activity. Although-the Israeli settle-
ments on the Golan have increased steadily in size and number, progress
has been slower than planned, owing to a shortage of funds and a dearth of
willing settlers. They nonetheless exist as "facts" created by Israel to
strengthen its hold on the occupied Golan.
According to the terms of the disengagement agreement signed in 1974, Is-
raeli and Syrian military forces are separated by a buffer zone at the
eastern margin of the Golan Heights, which is manned by the UN
Disengagement Observer Force. Each country may maintain only limited
forces and weaponry within specified distances of the buffer zone. Al-
though force and weapon levels have varied considerably, both sides have
generally adhered to the terms of the agreement with neither side normally
maintaining as large a military presence as the agreement permits. Even
during the Israeli military buildup on the Golan beginning in December,
the Israelis apparently did not exceed the authorized levels. Syria limited
its reaction to diplomatic efforts.
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Contents
The 1922 International Boundary 1
The 1948 War and 1949 Armistice Lines 2
The 1974 Disengagement Agreement 6
The Golan Heights as Part of Syria 6
The Golan Heights Under Israel 9
Transportation System 16
1. Golan Heights
2-B. Palestine-Syria Boundary, 1922
2-C. Israel-Syria Boundary, 1949
4. Terrain Profiles: Golan Heights and Upper Jordan Valley 5
5. Hula Valley Viewed From Golan Heights
6. Golan Heights Viewed From Israel
7. 1967 Cease-Fire Lines
8. Current Israeli-Syrian Disengagement Lines
9. Al Qunaytirah
10. Tall al Aram and Razed Village
12. Druze Village of Ayn Qunyah
13. Water Development Schemes on the Jordan River
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1. Non-Jewish Population of the Golan Heights After the 1967 War 11
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A.
Chronology of Events Affecting the Golan's Inhabitants
19
B.
Convention between Great Britain and France for the settlement of
certain points connected with the Mandates for Syria and the
Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia-Paris, December 23, 1920
21
C.
Israeli-Syrian General Armistice Agreement, 20 July 1949
27
D.
United Nations. Security Council Resolutions No. 234 of 7 June
1967 and No. 235 of 9 June 1967 (Demarcation of cease-fire lines
reported separately in Document 5/7930/add.18-41)
35
E.
United Nations. Security Council Resolution No. 242 of
22 November 1967
37
F.
United Nations. Security Council Resolution No. 338 of
22 October 1973
39
G.
Golan Heights Disengagement Agreement, Israel and Syria,
31 May 1974
41
H.
Camp David Frameworks for Peace, September 17, 1978
43
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Syria-Israel:
The Golan Heights in Perspective
The Golan Heights has long held a special security
significance in Israel's view. Israeli political leaders
and the general public remember well the period
before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war when Syrian artil-
lery on the Golan sporadically shelled Israeli farms
and civilian communities in the disputed demilitarized
zones in the Hula Valley. The scheduled final with-
drawal from the Sinai next April, moreover, has
generated new anxiety about increased vulnerability
to the perceived Arab threat. This concern-plus
longstanding suspicions of Syrian intentions-has fur-
ther reinforced the Israelis' attachment to the Golan.
Indeed, Knesset passage on 14 December of Prime
Minister Begin's bill effectively annexing the Golan
Heights culminates a steady tightening of Israeli
control over the territory. In 1979 the Israelis estab-
lished a Golan regional council controlled by the
Interior Ministry. A year later, the Knesset author-
ized the Interior Ministry to confer Israeli citizenship
on amenable Golan Druze. Most major Israeli parties,
moreover, have long sponsored settlements in the
territory-a connection that has assured the settlers a
formidable lobby within the government and Knesset.
Public opinion polls in recent years showed consistent-
ly that an overwhelming majority favored eventual
annexation. The timing and tactics used in passing the
recent bill have sparked ineffective criticism by the
opposition, which staged an unsuccessful no-confi-
dence vote shortly after the 14 December annexation
move.
Control of the Golan Heights gives the Israelis a
buffer zone beyond its borders within which to con-
tain a possible Syrian invasion. From their positions
on the lower slopes of Mount Hermon, which domi-
nates the local landscape, the Israelis can monitor not
only the movements of Syrian units near the Golan
but those of Palestinian guerrillas in southern Leba-
non as well. Control of the northern Golan, moreover,
ensures Israeli control over the headwaters of the
Baniyas River, a tributary of the upper Jordan River.
Evolution of Control Over the Golan
The territory now known as the Golan Heights is a
tiny part of the "fertile crescent," the ancient path-
way around the deserts of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq that
has been a route of trade, migration, invasion, and
shifting political control throughout recorded time.
Although this particular area was never a part of a
centralized Jewish state in the modern sense, ruins of
Jewish synagogues on the Heights are continuing
evidence of Jewish settlement there during the Second
and Third Centuries A.D. Following the fall of Jeru-
salem to the Romans in 70 A.D. and the subsequent
Jewish dispersion, the entire region eventually came
under the control of the Byzantines and later of a
series of Muslim powers-periodically interrupted by
Crusaders, the ruins of whose castles still dot the area.
The Ottoman Empire (1517-1917), the last of the
Muslim sovereigns over the area, ended with World
War I. Near the end of Ottoman rule, several Jewish
philanthropists bought land in various areas of the
Middle East for the resettlement of Jews from Europe
and Russia. Although most of these purchases were in
Palestine, two such resettlement communities were
attempted on the Golan Heights. 25X1
The 1922 International Boundary. During World
War I, the British, French, and Italians encouraged
the Arabs to revolt against Turkish rule by promising
them independence. After the war, however, the
Allies reneged on their promise and divided up the
territory into Mandates under the League of Nations.
25X1
The boundary between the British Mandate for Pales-
tine (out of which Israel was carved) and the French
Mandate for Syria (which included the Golan Heights
and present-day Lebanon) was demarcated by an
Anglo-French boundary commission in 1922 and for-
mally accepted by those governments in March 1923
(appendix B and figure 2-B). The boundary is about
65 kilometers long and extends from the current
Lebanon-Syria-Israel tripoint to the present Jordan
border (then British Transjordan).
25X1
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EMEQ
HULA
(Hula
Lake
Hula
(Gulf a
Aqaba
P)aIestine
Jewish
area
G ALIL
H I L Li
Arab
area
Trans-
Jordan
Pale
(British
Arab Ash-
Shamalina
Mish mar
HaYarden?
ne
late)
Yam Kinneret
Lake Tiberias
(Sea of Galilee)
Syria
(French
Mandate)
Trans-Jordan, est. 1921
(British Mandate)
Lake
Hula
EMEQ'
HULA
(Hula
Valley/
Israe1l
Mediterranean
Sea
I TO Syria`
ii
I , r
Yam Kinneret
Lake Tiberias
(Sea of Galilee)
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Boundary representation is
not necessarily authoritative.
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zo!
on Nahr al Yarmuk River, 1979.
one and that only the United Nations had the author-
ity to settle disputes arising in and over the zones. The
Syrians reasoned that since they had controlled the
zones at the time the armistice was signed they had an
obligation to protect the rights of Palestinian Arabs
living there. The Israelis contended the zones were
part of their territory based on the UN Partition Plan.
The Israelis claimed that the only limit on their
authority in the demilitarized zones was the prohibi-
tion on troops and military activity and that the
chairman of a Mixed Armistice Committee appointed
by the United Nations had authority only over the
return of civilians to the zones and the hiring of local
residents as police.
The Armistice Agreement directed that farming in
the demilitarized zones be quickly restored to prehos-
tility levels but gave no guidance on how the land was
to be returned to its owners. The problem was com-
plex because the fields of Arab and Jewish farmers
often abutted and in some places were intermingled.
Both Syria and Israel used the expansion of agricul-
tural holdings as a means to establish control. As
farmers returned to the war-ravaged zones, numerous
disputes over land ownership occurred. The Syrians
back their own participants in local disputes, and
disagreements quickly escalated to shootings-and on
occasion to more serious military actions involving
armored vehicles and artillery.
The 1967 War and Cease-Fire Lines. By early 1967
artillery exchanges and even airstrikes were occurring
fairly regularly. The climax came on 9 June 1967
when Israel invaded Syria following its earlier attacks
on Egypt and Jordan. Israeli forces captured the
demilitarized zones and penetrated about 25 kilome-
ters into Syria, occupying about two-thirds of the
Syrian Province of Al Qunaytirah. In response to a
UN Security Council demand, a cease-fire was imple-
mented on 10 June. During the next several days the
line that marked the limit of advance of the Israeli
forces was demarcated by UN observers. A buffer
zone ranging in width from a few hundred meters to
2.5 kilometers was established east of this line (appen-
dixes D and E, figure 7).
Israel officially named the region it occupied the
Golan Heights. The name Golan is derived from the
name of a city of refugees in Bashan, as the region
was known in Biblical times. Sometimes, the Israelis
still refer to the region as Bashan.
The Golan Heights remained relatively quiet between
1967 and October 1973. In part this was due to the
Israeli policy of not allowing the return of the ap-
proximately 100,000 refugees who had fled or were
expelled during and after the 1967 fighting. Begin-
ning in 1968, the Israelis began establishing farm
communities on the Golan; this violation of interna-
tional law drew widespread international criticism
and enraged the Syrians. Some of the new settlements
were within 3 kilometers of the 1967 cease-fire line
and in sight of Syrian Army positions. In effect, the
Israelis had merely moved many contentious aspects
of the Demilitarized Zone situation about 25 kilome-
ters to the east.
and Israelis had established defensive positions on the The
Golan Heights and in the Galilee Hills from which
flat trajectory fire could be delivered to the zones on
the valley floor (figures 4, 5, and 6). Despite UN
willingness to arbitrate, the goverments tended to
with Egyptian attacks on the Sinai, Syrian forces
launched a surprise attack on Israeli positions in the
Golan Heights and penetrated the center of the Israeli
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Figure 4
Terrain Profiles: Golan Heights and Upper Jordan Valley
(A)
Lebanon Israel
Syria
Israel-Lebanon
Armistice Line
Israel-Syria Golan Heights
Armistice Line
1000
- - (23 March 1949)
(20 July 1949)
800
Qiryat Shemona Nah
r Baniyas
600
Nahr al H4bani
400
200
0 meters
35?30'
35?45'
(B)
Israel
Galilee Hills
Syria
Golan Heights
Israel-Syria
Armistice Line
800
(20 July 1949)
1
600
400
Jordan Ri
ver
200
0 meters
(C)
Israel
Galilee Hills
35?30'
Note: See Figure 2C.
line, passing to the south of Al Qunaytirah and
isolating several pockets of Israeli troops. By the
morning of 7 October the southernmost Syrian ele-
ments had almost reached Al Al, about 10 kilometers
east of Lake Tiberias, while in the north the penetra-
tion was shallower. The Israelis counterattacked on
7 October, and by 10 October the Syrian forces had
retreated east of the 1967 cease-fire line except for
units still holding a portion of Mount Hermon. By
14 October the Israeli forces had carved out a roughly
semicircular area that stretched from the lower slopes
200
0 meters
-200
35?45'
25X1
of Mount Hermon almost to Sasa, about midway ,
between Al Qunaytirah and Damascus, and rejoined
the cease-fire line southeast of Al Qunaytirah. For the
next 10 days the Israelis directed most of their efforts
toward holding the 600-square-kilometer semicircle,
although they also recaptured their positions on
Mount Hermon. Large-scale hostilities ended on
24 October, but hostile incidents, snipings, and occa-
sional artillery exchanges continued during the winter
and spring while US Secretary of State Kissinger
practiced shuttle diplomacy.
35?45'
i Israel-Syria Syria
Armistice Line Golan Heights
(20 July 1949) 400
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Figure 5. The Hula Valley and Galilee Hills
viewed in 1975 from a pre-1967 Syrian gun
emplacement on the Golan Heights. Gadot, an
Israeli kibbutz in the center of the photograph, is
located in a demilitarized zone created by the
The 1974 Disengagement Agreement. A disengage-
ment agreement was signed by Israel and Syria on
31 May 1974 (appendixes F and G). On 6 June Israeli
and Arab forces began a staged withdrawal. Under
the agreement, Israeli military forces pulled back to
positions west of "Line A," which coincided with the
1967 cease-fire line except near Ar Rafid and Al
Qunaytirah (figure 8). From just north of Al
Qunaytirah Line A swings westward and then south-
eastward to rejoin the 1967 cease-fire line. An addi-
tional line termed "A-1" forms a bulge on Line A
around Al Qunaytirah, in which Israeli civilians, but
The
arrangement went into effect on 26 June 1974 and
remains current, subject to renewal every six months
(in May and November).
not military forces, are permitted.
All territory east of Line A is under Syrian adminis-
tration and with the exception of Al Qunaytirah-
which was largely destroyed after the cease-fire by
withdrawing Israeli units (figures 9 and 10)-was
gradually repopulated by Syrian civilians. Syrian
forces are required to remain east of "Line B"; the
area between Lines A and B is the zone of separation
where the United Nations Disengagement Observer
Force (UNDOF-strength about 1,250) is stationed to
maintain the cease-fire. UNDOF also monitors the
bulge between Lines A and A-1. East and west of
Lines A and B are areas in which forces and arma-
ments are limited as specified in the disengagement
In addition, the need for Syria and Israel to negotiate
the future of the Golan Heights and to conclude a 25X1
peace treaty is specifically mentioned in the Camp
David Accords (appendix H).
The Golan Heights as Part of Syria
Until 1967 the region now known as the Golan
Heights formed about two-thirds of Al Qunaytirah
Muhafazat, Syria's 13th province (figure 11). In 1965
Al Qunaytirah Province had an estimated population
of 142,600 people, most living in small farming
communities but about 30,000 living in Al
Qunaytirah, a town in the center of the province.
Most of the province residents were Muslim Arabs,
predominantly Sunnites; minority groups included
Druze, Alawites, Christian Arabs, and Sunni Muslim
Circassians. In addition to the Syrian population,
some 13,000 Palestinian refugees were housed in the
town of Al Qunaytirah.
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Figure 7
1967 Cease-fire Lines
An Nabatiyah
at Taha /
a Llani
At
Tayyibah
Margaliyy
Hulal
eU/
al
RamotF
r Naftali
'Alma ~ishon ti
Ayyelet f1d'a //r
Ha Shaharotf
Bet
Ma'on
Elite let
Israel
AI
Ayshiyah
Kefar
Gil'adi
Rosh
Pinna
Marji'yOn
:TI
Yuva
Yesud
aMa'ala.
Tuba
Almagor
Yam Kinneret
Lake Tiberias
(Sea of Galilee)
,~\.._. Baniyas
j-~s jI Mas'adahf
oshim
I} ` 1
r
'En. Gev ~ )
Ha5bayya
Lebanon
Golan( Heights
(lsraelil ccupied)
Majdal
Shims
Israeli 167
Cea` se-fire l Line
AI
K\hushmyah.
S V
Jubbata al Khashab
Mazra'at
~ayt Jinn J
Ash
Shajarah,
/ Umm
~Batinah
tfr
Syrian 194
Cease-fr"re / e
!\ \?
Khan
ash Shaykh /
7sa~Kanakir
\ Israeli battle line,
\October 1973
\r
I
/ ----,
A1Qunaytirah iNiuhafaTat
eastern boundary
A$
$anamayn
Ash / J
Shaykh
.Miski
Menahemy a
Afigim
I c1
Sa0am
Jordan
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Figure 8
Current Israeli-Syrian Disengagement Lines
Israel
Line A Israeli disengagement line
line A-1 to A Israeli civilians only
Line B Syrian disengagement line
0 10 Kilometers
0 10 Miles
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Secret
Figure 9. Downtown Al Qunaytirah, 1975. White
markings on buildings indicated structures not to
be destroyed by withdrawing Israeli units.
Although its 1,770 square kilometers accounted for
only about 1 percent of the country's total land area,
Al Qunaytirah was nevertheless one of Syria's most
productive agricultural regions. According to 1965
land use statistics, 58 percent of the land was suitable
for cultivation (some was actually in natural pasture),
16 percent consisted of scrub woodlands and orchards,
11 percent was in improved pasture, and the remain-
der was unsuited for any agricultural use. Most of the
farmland lay between the towns of Fiq and Al
Qunaytirah; the orchards were located mainly in the
north, although some tropical fruit trees were grown
near Lake Tiberias. Although much of the pasture
land was on the poorer, rocky slopes in the west, it still
had the highest stock-carrying capacity in the coun-
try, about four times the national average. In 1965 Al
Qunaytirah accounted for about 16 percent of Syria's
corn production, 17 percent of its millet, and 7 percent
of its fodder crops. Winter vegetables, especially
tomatoes, were an important specialty crop. Fruit
yields in the province were the highest in Syria; its
output of apples, for example, accounted for a fourth
of the country's total crop.
The Golan Heights Under Israel
During and after the 1967 fighting in the Golan
Heights, much of the population-an estimated
100,000 Syrians and some 13,000 Palestinian refu-
gees-fled or were expelled farther into Syria. An
Israeli census conducted in September 1967 enumer-
ated only 6,400 Syrian nationals-most of them
Druze living in a few villages northeast of Al
Qunaytirah. Since then, the population of these vil-
lages has more than doubled, but the Syrian popula-
tion of the Golan Heights is still only a small fraction
of its pre-1967 population (table 1 and figure 11).LI
Except for the aforementioned villages, the original
Syrian settlement pattern on the Golan Heights has
been largely obliterated. Since 1967 the Israelis have
razed at least 80 of the 190 former villages and have
destroyed other Syrian private property to make way
for Israeli settlements, farms, fortifications, and mili-
tary training areas. In many areas the Israelis have
removed the stone fences and markers that outlined
Syrian fields, making any future individual Syrian
land ownership claims nearly impossible.
The Golan Druze. Why the Israelis allowed these few
thousand Druze (and Alawites) to remain on the 25X1
Golan Heights is not known, but it is probably the
result of a combination of circumstances. The Druze
villages in the northern hills were outside the main
battle areas; the communities were close knit, and
determined not to abandon their rich farmlands; and
the Israelis regard the Druze living in Israel as
complaisant citizens who support the state-for ex-
ample, by serving in the military.'
' The Alawite village of Al Ghajar also survived because it was
taken late in the war; Israel initially believed the village was part of
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Non-Jewish Population of the Golan Heights
After the 1967 War
Syrian Settlements Census 1967 Estimate 1981
Shayta
173
Mansurah
6
Al Qunaytirah
206
(Destroyed in 1973
war)
(Razed by Israelis) Figure 12. Druze village of Ayn Qunyah with
(In UNDOF zone
after 1973)
In any event, the residents of the five surviving
villages still farm the lands they farmed before 1967.
The 10,500 hectares under cultivation consist of
extensive fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, grain
fields, olive groves, and vineyards (figure 12). Addi-
tional land in pasture supports herds of sheep, goats,
and cattle.
The Druze are neither united nor consistent in their
political loyalties. Some express a desire to belong to
an independent Druze state by flying the Druze flag.
Others favor Israeli annexation, and still others want
the return of Syrian sovereignty. Even family mem-
bers disagree. Shaykh Sulayman Kanj Abu Salih, the
current leader of the Golan Druze, has provided
inconsistent guidance. In 1974 he formally requested
Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights. Later, he
evidently changed his mind, for he was among the
hundreds of Golan Druze who petitioned Prime Min-
ister Begin not to be incorporated into the State of
Israel. In 1980 some Golan Druze accepted Israeli
identity cards (conferring upon the holders some of
the privileges of citizenship) only to turn them in a few
months later under pressure from their religious
authorities. Some of these Druze have apparently
welcomed the new Israeli law, for it requires them to
have Israeli identity cards. Others still claim, how-
ever, "I am a Druze by religion, an Arab by national-
ity, Syria is my homeland, and I prefer to remain
Syrian." 25X1
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 Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5
Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5
 Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5
Secret
A number of organizations are cooperating in the
development of the Golan Heights. The Settlement
Division of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) is
the primary planner but coordinates closely with the
Israeli Government and the Jewish National Fund
(JNF), an international fundraising group. The JNF is
responsible for preparing land for Israeli farming;
various other ministries and agencies in the Israeli
Government provide support. All major political par-
ties sponsor settlements on the Golan Heights.
The WZO establishes settlement goals and sets up
general budget requirements based on four-year cy-
cles. More definitive plans are made yearly through
the budgets of individual Israeli Government minis-
tries. The budget of the WZO is implemented through
the Ministry of Agriculture, while the government's
own plans are funded mainly through the ministries
concerned with housing, commerce, communications,
and defense. Additional funds come from other minis-
tries that handle education, health, religion, and
immigrant absorptions. According to one WZO offi-
cial, settlement activities for all the occupied territo-
ries generally amount to about 3 percent of the
national budget. (This percentage is likely to rise
appreciably to cover the special compensation due to
the settlers who are required to evacuate the Sinai by
April 1982.)
Since Prime Minister Begin's election in 1977, Golan
Heights settlement activities have slowed because
funds initially earmarked for this area have been
diverted to the accelerated West Bank settlement
program. As the 1978-81 WZO planning cycle ends,
five of the eight planned new settlements have been
established, and the settler population has grown to an
estimated 6,500 (vice the 10,500 planned). Many of
the new Golan communities contain vacant housing
units, but there is no current evidence that large
numbers of Israelis are likely soon to move to the
area. Nevertheless, the 14 December annexation
might eventually spur some increased settlement,
especially after Israel's final withdrawal from the
Sinai next April.
Israeli Agriculture. All but a few of the 31 Israeli
settlements are at least partly engaged in farming. In
1975 some 5,600 hectares (including field crops, or-
chards, and vineyards) were being cultivated by the
Israelis; in addition, about 4,000 hectares (mainly
along the rocky, western slopes) were being used for
grazing. In 1977 the WZO claimed that almost 6,800
hectares were being farmed and that the total would
reach nearly 12,000 hectares by 1981. According to
1981 data, however, this goal-like earlier ones-was
not met; a reported 6,000 to 7,000 hectares are under
cultivation in field crops and orchards. If pasture
lands are added, the total area being used by the
Israelis for farming amounts to more than 10,000
hectares. 25X1
El Rom and Ramat Magshimim are typical of the
older Israeli agricultural settlements. El Rom, in the
northern Golan, uses 290 hectares to grow wheat,
apples, and avocadoes and to raise fish; in addition, it
uses more than 1,700 hectares of land in the southern
Golan for pasturage. Ramat Magshimim has some
450 hectares in wheat, 45 hectares in apple orchards,
and 2,500 hectares in grazing land for 1,000 head of
cattle. 25X1
Israeli agriculture is more intensive than that prac-
ticed earlier by the Syrians. Irrigation is widespread,
even on some of the large wheat fields, and is expected
to expand as new land is brought under cultivation.
Data on total agricultural production from the Golan
is not available to allow comparisons with former
Syrian output or to determine the area's contribution
to Israel's total crop and livestock production. In any
event, the production is of little consequence to the
national economy. 25X1
Water Resources. Although water resources on the
Golan Heights were generally adequate for the area's
Syrian population before June 1967, the Israelis are
developing an expanded water distribution system
designed to support irrigated agriculture (figure 11).
When completed, the new system will supply a total of
28 million cubic meters of water annually. Because
this amount is not available on the Golan Heights,
water is drawn from two taps in Lake Tiberias and
pumped up some 600 meters through three 16-inch
pipes to a system of water towers and tanks located at
settlements and military facilities in the southern
Golan. Birkat Ram, a natural lake in the northern
Golan, has also been tapped to supply water to the
settlement blocs west and north of Al Qunaytirah and
to some of the Druze villages.
Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5
 Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5
Secret
Figure 13
WIT-L__- ?- a ...
Spot elevations in meters
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0 occasi53nal rain Far
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scheme to divert ~.
ian Ponds
373
l
~Ha~sbani, Dan, andp
-Baniyas
to the Oft i
+
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saknoin `et
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.;
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asi
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-212
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5
30"-~ ! ---*
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Boundary representatioi is
a5~ecessaril
authoritative
y
Secret - 14 25X1
Approved For Release 2009/02/12 : CIA-RDP83B00851 R000400150002-5