Golan Regional Council

Overview

The Golan Regional Council is a civilian local authority serving communities in the Golan Heights, part of the State of Israel and the historic region of Bashan, most of which lies in Syria and is today occupied by Syria. Its area has an ancient Jewish history and a long-established Druze presence. The council represents communities across the region, while Katzrin has a separate mayor and local council. An overview of the Golan Heights describes 32 other communities as forming the regional council.

The council’s civilian role became especially visible during Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel in 2024. Its leaders met the commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 210th Division after an attack on Katzrin, linking local leadership with the military division responsible for protecting the region. Jewish community leaders from the Golan also visited Druze residents of Majdal Shams after a rocket killed 12 children and teenagers there on July 27, 2024.

History

The council’s region belongs to historic Bashan. The biblical name “Golan in Bashan” preserves that connection, and the biblical territory corresponding to today’s Golan Heights was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh. In the era of the northern kingdom of Israel, King Ahab defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus near present-day Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan. Returning Jewish exiles from Babylonia settled the region in the late sixth and fifth centuries BCE. In the mid-second century BCE, Judah Maccabee and his brothers came to the aid of Jewish communities attacked by neighboring communities. Hasmonean King Alexander Jannai added the Golan Heights to his kingdom during his reign from 103 to 76 BCE.

Gamla became a chief Jewish city of the Golan. During the Great Revolt against Rome, it was the area’s last Jewish stronghold to resist the Romans and fell in 67 CE. Jewish life continued after the revolt: archaeologists have excavated remains of at least 25 synagogues dating from the period between the revolt and the Arab conquest. In August 636, Arab forces defeated the Byzantines in the Yarmouk Valley on the southern edge of the Golan Heights. Organized Jewish settlement in the region ended after that conquest. Druze communities began settling the northern Golan and the slopes of Mount Hermon in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Jewish settlement was renewed in 1886, when the B’nei Yehuda society of Safed purchased land for Ramataniya. That community lasted about a year. In 1887, the society bought more land for another community, which survived until 1920. During anti-Jewish riots that year, two of its remaining members were murdered. These efforts preceded the modern communities now served by the regional council.

Israel took the Golan Heights in the final stage of the 1967 Six-Day War. Military authority subsequently governed the region’s residents. On December 14, 1981, the Knesset extended Israeli civilian law and administration to the Golan Heights, replacing that military authority. Since 1967, residents of the Golan’s Druze villages have increasingly integrated into Israeli society.

Structure and leadership

The regional council and Katzrin Local Council are distinct civilian authorities. Katzrin has its own mayor and local council; the regional council serves the other communities described in the Golan overview. The council also participates in public health work across its localities. An Israeli health ministry program describes council initiatives spanning early childhood, schools, older residents and people with chronic illness. Those activities illustrate its continuing civilian responsibilities alongside the security concerns faced by communities in the region.

During the August 2024 attacks, the council’s civilian leaders met Brigadier General Yair Peli, commander of Israel’s 210th Division. Peli also met the head of the separate Katzrin Local Council. His meetings with both authorities reflected the need to coordinate protection and local response across communities governed by different councils.

Attacks and operations

Hezbollah, a terrorist organization based in Lebanon, struck numerous sites in Israel’s Golan Heights during the months before its August 2024 attack on Katzrin. On July 27, a Hezbollah rocket hit the Druze town of Majdal Shams, killing 12 children and teenagers. Jewish community leaders from the Golan came to support Druze residents afterward. The visit placed solidarity between neighboring communities alongside the region’s immediate security response.

On August 21, 2024, Hezbollah launched the area’s largest attack since October 8, 2023. Its first barrage against Katzrin began at 8:21 a.m. and involved more than 50 rockets. Several struck the town, causing significant damage and injuring one person. Hezbollah launched further attacks between 11:23 and 11:33 a.m., then continued firing at Golan communities through the afternoon until sunset. Sirens sounded in more than 40 communities that day.

After the Katzrin barrage, Peli held a security assessment with the IDF Home Front command in Katzrin. He then met the regional council’s civilian leadership and the head of Katzrin Local Council. The council’s part in these events was civilian coordination for communities under attack; the 210th Division held responsibility for their military protection.

Current status

The Golan Regional Council continues to serve its communities as an Israeli civilian authority in the Golan Heights, part of Israel and historic Bashan. Its work spans everyday local services and contact with security authorities when rocket attacks endanger residents. Katzrin remains under its separate local council. The 2024 attacks on Majdal Shams and Katzrin showed how threats to Druze and Jewish communities alike affect the wider region served by these neighboring authorities.