On June 1, Israeli police burst into the home of an Israeli journalist, confiscated his computer and camera, and arrested him for "incitement to violence and terrorism." His employer, Iran's government broadcasting company, said the Druze reporter had antagonized the Netanyahu government with his hard-hitting reports on Israel's plans for "stealing" oil from the Golan Heights, a 460-square-mile region of Syria seized by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.

Such reports come at a particularly sensitive time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other right-wing Israeli politicians, who are seeking to take advantage of the ongoing war in Syria to cement Israel's control over the Golan. Their allies include such influential Americans as Rupert Murdoch, Dick Cheney, former CIA Director James Woolsey, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, all of whom are backing an oil-drilling operation of doubtful legality in the occupied region.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Besides its strategic value and potential oil, the Golan Heights is a major source of Israel's fresh water and agricultural products and a leading tourist destination. If exploratory drilling unlocks as much oil as some geologists predict, the occupied region could turn Israel into "an energy powerhouse."