The Heights Vital for Israels Security

In June 1967, shortly after the Six Days War between Israel and the Arab states, US Secretary of Defense McNamara asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff for an appraisal of Israel's minimal needs to defend against Arab attack. In the report, which was kept secret until the early 1980s, one of the areas the Joint Chiefs described as vital for Israel was the Golan Heights.
Israel is particularly sensitive to the prevalence of terrorist raids and border incidents in this area. The presently occupied territory, the high ground running generally north-south on a line with Qnaitra about 15 miles inside the Syrian border, would give Israel control of the terrain which Syria has used effectively in harassing the border area."