alternatehistory.com

In November 1967, the United Nations Secuirty Council uanimously approved Security Council Resolution 242 which laid down the conditions for peace in the Middle East after the Six-Day War. They were:

  • Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
  • Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."
During the Six-Day War, Israel occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Syrian Golan Heights. After the resolution was passed, israel created a intiiative called 'Land for Peace' in which Israel would give up it's occupied territory in exchange for peaceful relations. This was rejected by the Arab League's 1967 Khartoum Resolution in which Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait and Sudan agreed to their own policy: the Three No's.

  • No peace with Israel
  • No recognition of Israel
  • No negotiations with Israel

Egypt later broke away from this polcy and concluded a peae treaty with Israel in 1979, in which it got the Sinai Peninsula back. However, as the years have gone by, the Golan Heights has become a icon of nationalism in Israel, due to it's elevated position which would give any attacker a major strategic advantage as it looks over the Huleh Valley, which is a major source of agriculture for Israel.

But, what if the Syrian government decided to break from it's partners in the Arab world and decided to make peace with Israel in exchange for the Golan Heights? (For thsoe who think this is implausible, in 2010, Israel and Syria almost concluded a peace treaty, but the Syrian civil war got in the way of that, so it's not that crazy for a Ba'athist Syria to make peace with Israel)
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