13 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed on Monday that Iran has been working to build an army in the Golan Heights, but Israel will continue to "roll up the Iranian presence in Syria," Israeli media reported.
Bennett was speaking at the Makor Rishon newspaper conference, and said: "The Golan Heights is Israel, period."
Israel occupied the Golan Heights in 1967 and applied its sovereignty over it, but only the US has recognised this illegal move.
Bennett said: "Iran, which has dispatched proxies and built armies to surround the State of Israel, aspires to build yet another army on the border of the Golan Heights."
"We will continue to act wherever and whenever necessary, at our initiative, and on a daily basis, in order to roll up the Iranian presence in Syria. They have nothing to look for there."
Bennett said that the Israeli action in the occupied Golan Heights is not related to what is going on in Syria. "I would like to make one thing clear – our position regarding the Golan Heights is not connected to the situation in Syria," he said.
He announced that his government is planning for a strategic development of the region and promised to double, if not quadruple the number of Jewish settlers there.
In six weeks, the government will approve a national plan for the Golan Heights that will include the creation of two new settlements and investment in development, infrastructure, business, and renewable energy, the Jerusalem Post reported Bennett saying.
"We are now working to complete the plan that will change the face of the Golan Heights," he concluded.
