Syrian Rebels Offer to ‘Trade’ Golan to Israel for Military Aid

Wants Israeli Cash, IAF-Imposed 'No-Fly Zone'

Influential Syrian rebel Kamal al-Labwani’s comments today have raised the prospect of even further splintering the rebels, as he offered to “trade” the Golan Heights to Israel in return for cash and military aid for the rebellion.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights during 1967, and the prospect of returning the heights as part of an overall peace deal with Syria has been repeatedly broached, most recently in 2008.

Labwani suggested that instead, an agreement by the rebels to sign over claims to the Golan in perpetuity could be had for cash concessions as well as an Israeli-imposed “no-fly zone” across southern Syria.

Labwani’s comments are just another effort to get a foreign power sucked into the civil war on the rebels’ side, and such a promise would likely not be honored by the Islamist rebels that dominate the civil war at any rate.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.