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Golan Heights Mayor: We're on the Alert Cheshvan 26, 5770, 13 November 09 01:27 by Hillel Fendel and Gil Ronen (Israelnationalnews.com) Wary caution is the order of the day in the Golan Heights, in light of Netanyahu's apparent readiness to enter into negotiations with Syria. Sammy Bar-Lev, mayor of Katzrin, the Golan's only city, told Arutz-Sheva, "We have to be ready and on the alert, though at present I see no immediate danger to the Golan. I don't know exactly what message Netanyahu gave the Syrians, of course, but if all he said is that he's ready for talks with no pre-conditions, then that's OK, because that's what should be said." "Let's not forget that the public has come out massively against any withdrawal from the Golan," Bar-Lev added. One of Israel's most famous and successful public campaigns - "HaAm Im HaGolan" (The People are With the Golan) – began in 1996 in the face of apparent intentions by then-Prime Minister Peres to negotiate a Golan giveaway to Syria. It featured banners and stickers on porches, billboards and cars throughout the country, In January 2000, some 300,000 people took part in one of the largest demonstrations in Israeli history, calling on then-Prime Minister Barak not to agree to an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. It put an end to talk of such a withdrawal for several years. Formally Annexed in 1981 The Golan Heights, used by Syria to rain down rockets on Israeli farms and villages in the Galilee for years, was captured by Israel in its defensive Six Day War of 1967. In December 1981, the Knesset approved the Golan Law, formally annexing the Golan Heights to Israel. Bar-Lev noted that in order to nullify the Golan Law, "or to leave any part of the sovereign State of Israel, a majority of 61 Knesset Members – not just a regular majority – is necessary. As far as we're concerned, even that is not a good enough guarantee, and we are promoting legislation to require not only a Knesset vote, but also a national referendum, for a Golan withdrawal." Meridor Thwarts Proposal The above proposal passed its first reading in the previous Knesset, but a proposal to exempt it from having to "start all over" in the current Knesset was thwarted several weeks ago by the Likud's Minister Dan Meridor. "We hope that this is just a technical problem and that the law will soon be passed," Bar-Lev said, "as the public is massively against leaving the Golan." Bar-Lev says he would expect the Syrians to realize that "the fact that they have a quiet border with us is already an achievement for them; why should they expect to receive back what they lost when they attacked us?" Arab-affairs expert Prof. Moshe Sharon told Arutz Sheva last week, "Syria doesn’t want peace with us; it wants an agreement by which it regains all the territory that it once captured from us in the 1950’s... and it also wants to take our water from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) [which borders the Golan]. Syria is our enemy." www.IsraelNationalNews.com © Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com