Israel-Syria Relations: A Brief History of Trouble Between Nations

The strained relationship between Israel and Syria took another step further this week as Syrian rebels captured the only border crossing in the disputed region of Golan Heights, an area the two countries have been fighting over for decades.

Golan Heights, a narrow strip of land east of Israel and west of Syria, has been at the center of conflict between to the two Middle Eastern countries since the late 1940s, mainly due to disputed water rights. An armistice, or peace agreement, between the two countries was signed in 1949 but fighting and failed peace talks have been unsuccessful since then.

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In June of 1967, the “Six Day War” broke out with Israeli air strikes against Syria, Eygpt, and Jordan.

Iraq then joined Jordan in retaliating against Israel with air strikes of their own. A ground war also broke out, and after six days, the conflict ended “with Israel claiming the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal,” according to NPR.

Six years later, Syria and Egypt cooperated to attack Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur to capture Golan Heights, but Israel was able to hold off the attackers and maintain control of the territory that is just to the east of the Sea of Galilee.

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Less than a decade later, Israel annexed Golan Heights, but the land grab wasn’t recognized by the international community. The world community also condemned Israel for the move.

Peace talks continued but weren’t successful from the early 1980s through the late 1990s between the two countries. Just before the start of 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara began talks to resolve the conflicts between their countries, mainly over control of Golan Heights. However, those negotiations broke down over a smaller portion of the disputed territory.

Since then, peace talks have been attempted but the sides have failed to reach agreements. There is continued fighting between the two nations.

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