Hezbollah’s Iranian-made missile, which was launched from southern Lebanon to Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights and killed 12 beautiful, innocent Druze children, horrified Israel and the world.
Even the Druze community in the Golan Heights settlements, which were occupied in 1967, knows that Israel will preserve the dignity, identity, and security of the Druze.
I believe that the lack of governance, security, and stability in Syria will help increase the integration of the Druze in the Golan Heights into the State of Israel. At the funeral of the 12 children, not a single Syrian flag was raised; it is not even raised in the Druze Mountain in Syria anymore.
Short History of the Druze in Israel
The Druze community in Israel includes about 152,000 people living in 23 settlements in the north. The Druze saw the alliance with the Zionist movement as a renewed alliance, considering the historical spiritual connection that began with the connection between Jethro and Prophet Shoaib, the spiritual father and prophet of the Druze.
Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law) was the Kenite leader that Moshe stayed with for ten years. Moses married Jethro’s daughter, Tzipora, and together with Jethro, built the strategy to lead the people from slavery to freedom. The Druze are descendants of the Kenite tribe.
This ancient alliance was renewed in Israel when the people of Israel returned to their land in the twentieth century after about 2,000 years in exile.
The Druze, a religious minority spread across several countries in the Middle East and not recognized as an independent community, faced the question of which camp to join. As a community that also experienced persecution in the past, they were cautious, especially under the British mandate, which did not support ethnic minorities. The relations between the Druze and the other groups were so good that Jews even lived in some of the Druze settlements. The Druze worked to bring peace to the Holy Land and chose to help the Jews who lived around them.
At the beginning of the 20th century, waves of immigration to Israel began. The Druze, who understood the strategy of the Zionist movement, acted independently and did not respond to the calls from Hajj Amin Husseini in 1929 to attack the Jews. These trends did not go unnoticed, and friendly relations were forged between the Jews and the Druze.
One of the key figures of the alliance with the Druze was Yitzhak Ben Zvi (who later served as the second president of Israel) who established connections with Druze leaders from the Galilee in 1930.
The State of Israel recognized the Druze community as an independent religious community with its own religious establishment, freedom of worship, independent religious courts, and a religious council of 75 members, led by the spiritual leader of the community, Sheikh Mawapak Tarif, head of the Supreme Religious Council. The Druze in Israel make up 1.5% of the population, but they have great social and security significance within the population.
The Vast Contribution of the Druze to the Security of Israel
Many Druze served in the Haganah as part of vital intelligence missions before 1948. 173 Druze lost their lives and received the special “Ala” decoration. After Israel’s establishment, Druze served in the IDF as volunteers. Since 1956, Druze have been serving in the IDF under the mandatory conscription law. The Druze served in their own unit until the early 1970s, when all IDF units were opened to the Druze. Because of the success of integrating the Druze into all IDF units and the security establishment, IDF Chief of Staff Eizenkot decided to close the Druze Sword Battalion in May 2015.
The community can be proud of its fine soldiers and officers, many of whom received certificates of excellence. The contribution of the Druze on the battlefield and in various intelligence units is inspiring and cannot be underestimated. To date, the Druze community has lost around 500 martyrs.
Although the Druze are spread out across Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, within the Druze community, there is solidarity and a commitment to preserve the safety of the Druze everywhere. In Syria and Lebanon, the Druze face security challenges: the existential threat in the shadow of political anarchy and the rise of radical religious organizations, such as Jabhat al-Nusra in northern Syria and the Islamic State in the Druze Mountain in southern Syria.
The military service of the Druze in the IDF and the awareness that they are an integral part of the army and government in the State of Israel, contributes to the sense of security of the Druze in Israel and even the Druze outside of Israel, when the security of the Druze across the border is threatened.
Druze Integration into Israel Cautiously Growing
The Druze community has experienced many political and security challenges and is therefore careful in this period of instability. The unrest in Syria is bringing the Druze in the Golan Heights closer to the community in Israel. Of the 25,000 Druze in the Golan, thousands have already received Israeli citizenship, and many have begun enlisting in the IDF. They seem to understand, cautiously, that their future is in Israel.
The young Israeli Druze develop immensely in the Israeli education system. They are part of the melting pot of Israeli society, which sees the IDF as a central part of the national ethos. Recently, thousands of Druze girls have joined the national service and contributed greatly to the country. The community still faces many challenges, and the younger generation, which sees itself as Israeli Druze, must fight to improve the situation of the Druze community and accelerate its integration in Israel.
Alongside these positive trends, there are still quite a few disparities, such as the development of the Druze settlements. Although the Druze are very politically active, it is not easy for a minority with little electoral weight in a democracy. But we are hopeful as the holy, ancient alliance between Moses and Jethro and the renewed modern alliance between the Druze and the Zionist movement are strong enough to develop and maintain a bright future in Israel.
Dr. Anan Wahabi is a lecturer in the School of Political Sciences at Haifa University and a research scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Andre Oboler.