Israel Alarmed by Trump’s Pressure to Withdraw from Mount Hermon

ARK News.. An Israeli newspaper has reported growing concern within Israel that U.S. President Donald Trump may push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an Israeli withdrawal from Mount Hermon, following Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s historic visit to the White House.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday, November 14, 2025, Israeli bulldozers have been advancing toward the summit of Mount Hermon inside Syrian territory, at an altitude of around 2,800 meters, where fortification and renovation work is underway ahead of the coming winter.

Despite this activity, the paper noted that Israeli leaders do not view the current winter as the army’s last on Mount Hermon. However, Washington and Damascus may be calculating differently after the recent meeting between Sharaa and Trump.

The report added that “quiet contacts” between associates of Prime Minister Netanyahu and envoys of the Syrian government “have not made any progress so far.”

The newspaper explained that the goal is to formulate a new ceasefire agreement to replace the security arrangements that had been in place from 1974 until the collapse of the Assad regime last year.

Israeli security officials, the paper said, have warned Netanyahu against relinquishing the summit of Mount Hermon, describing it as a strategic vantage point that enables wide surveillance over the occupied Golan Heights and alleged “weapons smuggling routes” from Syria to Lebanon.

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