A major discovery may have a huge impact on Israel for many years to come.
Since 1967, Israel has controlled the mountainous region along the Syrian border known as the Golan Heights. These mountains were captured during the Six Day War, and provide Israel with a strategic buffer zone to protect the important agricultural communities in the Galilee below. Now Israel has even more reason to hold on to this area: oil.
Israel has relied on foreign oil imports from unfriendly neighbors ever since the nation was founded. The discovery of massive oil reserves in the Golan could change that and provide Israel with economic security through energy independence for decades to come. This discovery follows the announcement of huge natural gas fields off the coast of Israel, but development of those sites has been stalled by internal political red tape.
