{"id":104845,"date":"2026-05-09T04:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T04:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/104845\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T04:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T04:52:14","slug":"the-quiet-frontier-with-minefields-cleared-golan-heights-readies-for-construction-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/104845\/","title":{"rendered":"The quiet frontier? With minefields cleared, Golan Heights readies for construction boom"},"content":{"rendered":"

KATZRIN \u2014 Despite more than two years of continued tensions on both the Syrian and Lebanese fronts, this border town in the Golan Heights feels like a sleepy place, somehow insulated from conflict.<\/p>\n

On a recent early morning, Richard Zwerling, who moved to Katzrin from Arizona last year, stopped by the Craft Roasters and Artisan Market on the town\u2019s central square, where a group of regulars, all American immigrants, were having coffee.<\/p>\n

The town of about 8,000 residents \u201cfeels like a small town in America,\u201d Zwerling said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible to get home when you\u2019re walking around, because you\u2019re talking to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The floor-to-ceiling shelves of the coffee shop, opened last September, are lined with Golan products, including whiskeys made by its owners, Alona Sadovski Zibell and David Zibell, who own Golani Distillery.<\/p>\n

However, since mid-April, when the government approved a five-year plan to develop the Golan Heights by 2030, with a total investment of approximately NIS 1 billion ($330 million), it is clear the town is about to wake up.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tRichard Zwerling, right, stops by at Coffee Roasters and Artisanal Market in Katzrin on April 20, 2026. (Diana Bletter\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we made history by turning Katzrin into the first Israeli city in the Golan,\u201d Ze\u2019ev Elkin, a minister in the Finance Ministry tasked with rehabilitating the country\u2019s perimeter, said in a statement coinciding with the government\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

The move will bring 3,000 new families to the Golan and Katzrin, along with investment in infrastructure, housing, public services, and education.<\/p>\n

The University of Kiryat Shmona (formerly Tel-Hai College) will open a branch in Katzrin and a veterinary hospital.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tTamar Guttman, a longtime resident of Katzrin, stands in the parking lot of downtown Katzrin on April 20, 2026. (Diana Bletter\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

As part of the development package, the government has set aside NIS 150 million ($50 million) to clear minefields so that land can be used for agriculture, commerce, housing and industry.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Defense Ministry\u2019s Israel National Mine Action Authority (INMAA) cleared away 700 dunams (173 acres) filled with mines and unexploded ordnance near Katzrin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole area is going to blossom,\u201d said the mayor, Yehuda Dua, 33, in a recent video call with The Times of Israel. \u201cThere will be 20,000 residents in three to four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israel National Mine Action Authority (INMAA) of the Israel Defense Ministry cleared away 700 dunams (173 acres) of minefields in the Golan Heights near the Syrian Border on April 27, 2026. (Courtesy\/Israel National Mine Action Authority )<\/p>\n

There are currently about 300 English-speaking families in Katzrin and Dua plans to attract more.<\/p>\n

Dua, who prides himself on being Israel\u2019s youngest mayor, said he hopes \u201cwe\u2019ll be a big city with the community feeling of a village.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very unique with a lot of potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Katzrin local council head Yehuda Dua (left) and Golan Heights Regional Council head Uri Kellner (right) in Jerusalem, April 13, 2026. (Maayan Toaf\/GPO)<\/p>\n

Uncertainty along the border<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, one of Dua\u2019s main concerns is security.<\/p>\n

The Golan saw some 2,000 attacks from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon, in the past two years. But unlike in other parts of northern Israel, residents of Katzrin and the Golan were not evacuated.<\/p>\n

In July 2024, a deadly Hezbollah missile attack killed 12 children and teenagers on a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a Druze town 40 kilometers (24 miles) away from Katzrin.<\/p>\n

Then, in Syria in December 2024, former al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed al-Sharaa seized power from strongman Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tSyrians gather to protest the humanitarian situation in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 28, 2025. (Shadi AL-DUBAISI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

At first, al-Shaara vowed that his new government would protect religious minorities, but hundreds of Druze, Christians and Alawites \u2014 former Assad loyalists \u2014 have been killed under his rule.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, government-led forces killed 1,800 Syrian Druze amid acts of sexual violence and cruelty in southern Syria\u2019s predominantly Druze city of Sweida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody knows what al-Sharaa will do next,\u201d Dua said, saying that he has strengthened the bonds with the Golan Druze community because \u201cwe\u2019re soul brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, it offered full citizenship to its roughly 29,000 Druze residents. Most opted for permanent residency that allowed them to work and travel freely in Israel while maintaining their Syrian identity.<\/p>\n

But since \u201cthe tragedy in Majdal Shams and the horrific massacres of Druze in Syria,\u201d applications for citizenship by Golani Druze have \u201csurged by 1,000 percent,\u201d said Yaakov Selavan, Golan Regional Council Deputy Head.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tKatzrin, Golan Heights, April 13, 2025. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Selavan spoke with The Times of Israel in Hubazelet, a center of high-tech offices and workspaces at Wasset Junction, about 21 kilometers (13 miles) from Katzrin, stressing the importance of strengthening the bonds with the Druze in the area.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, the government also approved a five-year plan worth approximately NIS 3.9 billion ($1.3 billion) to resolve the housing and planning issues affecting Druze communities in northern Israel. The plan includes financial help for the 5,000 Circassians in northern Israel, who are Sunni Muslims.<\/p>\n

Selavan said that the government is aware of Israeli Druze with \u201ctheir kin facing slaughter across the border,\u201d and is considering providing work visas to Syrian Druze, allowing them to cross the border to work in the Golan.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tFrom left to right, Katzrin Mayor Yehuda Dua, Majdal Shams Dolan Abu Saleh, Golan Regional Council head Uri Kellner at a joint Memorial Day ceremony in the Gamla Nature Reserve on April 21, 2026. (Courtesy\/Itzik Grinstein)<\/p>\n

The new frontier<\/p>\n

The Golan Heights encompasses about 1,300 square kilometers, or 500 square miles, of a massive volcanic plateau.<\/p>\n

Underneath its rolling hills and prairies is basalt rock. When it breaks down, it creates mineral-rich soil, perfect for fruit trees, grasses, vineyards, and grazing cattle \u2014 but, as of yet, not for large numbers of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe no longer call this area the periphery because we see it as the frontier,\u201d Selavan said. \u201cWe also prefer to say the Golan, rather than the Golan Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that in a 2002 survey, when respondents were asked about the Golan Heights, they thought of \u201cstrategy and war.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2020, when asked about \u201cthe Golan,\u201d respondents thought of \u201ccherry trees, wine, and vacations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet there are challenges to attracting people to live in the area. Selavan pointed out that there is a lack of quality health care, educational opportunities for children, and basic infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there is wind and rain, there\u2019s no internet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tView of the new development in Odem, the Golan. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Reut Tal-Levy, in charge of demographic growth in the Golan, sat in on the meeting with The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n

She spoke about attracting more families to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery community in the area needs to grow,\u201d she said. Her community of Odem has plans to triple its population from 20 families to 60 in the next few years.<\/p>\n

When Trump Heights offered 24 properties for sale in 2025, 400 families applied to purchase land. The same number of people recently expressed interest in 33 plots in Kela Alon, a community with about 400 residents about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away from Odem.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tAmitai Moshe, owner of his family-run Odem Forest Holiday Village, stands with one of the creatures that line the children\u2019s walking path in Odem, the Golan, on April 20, 2026. (Diana Bletter\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

However, finding employment is still a challenge. More than 30% of the Golan\u2019s residents are employed in education and agriculture, two of the lowest-paying professions in Israel.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the region has the second-highest number of self-employed people after Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pushers,\u201d Selavan said.<\/p>\n

Tal-Levy added that there are a lot of initiatives in agriculture, including agri-tourism, AI, and research and development.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tYaara Alfasi, left, and her brother, Yishay Alfasi, stand in front of a vineyard at their family company, Odem Mountain Winery, in Odem, Golan on April 20, 2026. (Diana Bletter\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Continuing the family business<\/p>\n

At the Odem Mountain Winery, siblings Yishai Alfasy and Yaara Alfasy now manage the winery that their parents began in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went from producing 7,000 bottles [annually] to 200,000 bottles today,\u201d Yishai said. \u201cEven during the war, we never stopped producing wines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s meaning for us here,\u201d said his sister, Yaara. \u201cAnd it\u2019s morally important that we stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selavan, who lives in another small Golan community, Yonatan, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, joined the conversation, saying that their presence \u201cprotects the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now see the necessity of a strong civilian frontier,\u201d Selavan said. \u201cBringing more people here serves as an anchor to protect Israel, not less and \u2014 maybe even more \u2014 than tanks and jet fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KATZRIN \u2014 Despite more than two years of continued tensions on both the Syrian and Lebanese fronts, this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[27653,27975,8531,36323,669,100,37,36325,31587,36322,36324,2509],"class_list":{"0":"post-104845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-2023-2024-israel-hezbollah-conflict","9":"tag-2026-israel-hezbollah-conflict","10":"tag-druze","11":"tag-golan","12":"tag-golan-heights","13":"tag-hezbollah","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-israel-syria-border","16":"tag-israel-syria-relations","17":"tag-katzrin","18":"tag-new-front-golan-heights","19":"tag-northern-israel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116542828927130747","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}