What does Israel want to achieve with the attacks on Damascus? Protection of the Druzen, or is it strategic display of power?
Israel carried out targeted attacks on Damascus on Wednesday – the first time since May the Syrian capital was again the target of Israeli rockets. According to Israel, the reason for the attack was the protection of the Druzen. The country thus issues a large signal: Don’t Mess with the Druze.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense calls the attacks a “dangerous escalation”. But what has led Israel to go so far to protect this relatively unknown religious minority in southern Syria?
Who are the Druzen anyway?
There are about one million Druzen worldwide. In the Middle East they are spread over Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, as a result of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. This makes them a minority group everywhere.
From a religious point of view, they are among the most closed religious communities in the Middle East. The roots of faith are in the tenth-century Egypt, where it arose as a mystical movement within Shiism-the minority branch of Islam. When the preachers Hamza Ibn Ali and Muhammad Ad-Darazi de Kalief (leader) al-Hakim began to worship as a divine incarnation, she and their followers from Cairo were banned. The movement eventually found a safe place in countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Palestine – where she released from the traditional interpretation of Islam and formed her own religious identity. They themselves do not call themselves druze, but Muwahhidun – “monotheists” or “believers in the unity of God.”
Since 1043, accession to religion has no longer been permitted. You are born as a drop; External conversion is excluded, and marry non-roses is still strongly discouraged by community leaders. The religion itself is complex and largely secret – also for Druzen itself. Only a small group of initiates, the Uqqal, gets access to the holy texts. The vast majority – the Juhhal – lives according to the guidelines, but without fully access to the doctrine.
The religion draws from a mix of sources: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Greek philosophy and even Hinduism. For example, Druzen believes in reincarnation – a conviction that makes them heretics in the eyes of many Muslims. At the same time, the Druzen are deeply rooted in Arabic culture. Arabic is their native language, and their identity is strongly connected to the region in which they live.
Situation of Druzen in Syria
In Syria, around 700,000 Druzen (3.2 percent of the Syrian population) mainly live in the southernmost province of Sweida against Israel in the region of Jabal al-Druze. Since last week it is restless in Sweida. Tensions rose after a Druze man was violently robbed by a group of Bedouins. Quarrels between these two groups are not uncommon, but this time the violence escalated considerably – especially after the Syrian army started to interfere with ‘the Order’. The army was attacked by Druzen militia on arrival.
The Syrian government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, former leader of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) rebel group (HTS), promises to protect all minorities. But extremist Sunni forces that are loyal to Al-Sharaa continue to attack religious minorities such as the Druzen in a violent way. Al-Sharaa has often brought this into an uncomfortable position. There is also distrust of the government under the Druzen.
During the Syrian Civil War, the Druzen largely kept aloof – especially from self -protection and sometimes out of loyalty to the Assad regime. That position now makes them extra vulnerable to extremist Sunni movements, which do not accept differently and are more often out of revenge. This could already be seen during earlier violent confrontations between Alawites and Sunnis between 6 and 8 March. Assad was Alawiet, so this population group is not loved by the majority group of Sunnis
Israel and Druzen
How could the robbery of a Druze man ever lead to the Israeli attacks on Damascus?
Rami Zeedan, political scientist and historian of modern Israel and expert in the field of the Druzen, answers some questions by e-mail that can give more clarity about the situation.
The relationship between Israel and De Druzen is complex and loaded with both historical and strategic factors. Around 130,000 Druzen live in the Galilea region and in the Karmel Mountains in Northern Israel. Almost all of these Druzen are Israeli citizen and, moreover, conscript since 1956-unique among non-Jewish minorities. For that reason too, Israel likes to retain good ties with the Druzen. Israeli Druzen often fulfill high functions in the army, the police and the security services.
Another 20,000 Druzen live on the Golanhooogvlakte, an area that Israel captured in Syria in 1967. Druzen on the Golan are so far pointing out Israeli citizenship and often consider themselves Syrians. Yet a turning point is also noticeable there, says Zeedan, with an increasing number of young people who want to integrate into Israeli society, partly due to the benefits, for example on the labor market that it brings. About 25 percent of the Golan-dries is now 25 percent of Israeli citizen.
But the bond between the state of Israel and the Druzen is not obvious. The Nation-State law of 2018-in which the Jewish character of the State was recorded-was experienced by many in the community as a “knife in the back”. Yet a pragmatic attitude often dominates under Druzen: Israel is seen as one of the few places in the Middle East where they can best thrive as a minority, despite discrimination.
“Today, most druze in Israel identify themselves as a Druze, Israeli and Arab,” says Zeedan to express complexity. However, the latter identity has become more difficult because ‘Arab’ is associated by Israelians with Palestinians and hostile Arab countries.
E that Israeli Druzen and Golan-dries have a bond with the druze outside of Israel, it was clearly visible in recent days. Many Israeli Druzen took to the streets last week to draw attention to the horrors in Syria and, says Zeedan, to ask for help from the Israeli state.
Israel’s intervention
And Israel stands up for them. On Monday, the Israeli army reported that the Syrian tanks had attacked in southern Syria. A day later, more air strikes followed on the Syrian government army. According to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, Israel is “determined to prevent damage to the Druzen in Syria, because of its strong fraternal connection with our druzen in Israel and their family and historical ties with the Druzen in Syria.”
In addition, Israel has a wider agenda, Zeedan thinks: expanding the influence in the region and neutralizing any potential threat. Israel simply does not want a militant Islamic groups in the vicinity of his border and in this situation may see an opportunity to further weaken the grip of the Syrian regime, which they consider as hostile by their ‘extremist character’.
In addition, immediately after the fall of Assad in December 2024, Israel invaded a significant piece of South Syrian territory: the occupied parts of the UN buffer zone and surrounding areas such as Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda. At the same time, the extensive air strikes launched in southern Syrian sectors. Israel declared this zone a ‘demilitarized’ region, something that the new Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa strongly opposes. Israel of the Syrian army still demands to keep itself away from this area. The extra bombing of the past days can therefore also act as an extra warning for this.
The border over
Israeli Druzen have also taken matters into their own hands. In the last few days, about a thousand of them would have crossed the border to Syria from the Golan Hoogvlakte, occupied by Israel. Images on social media show people with Druze flags that travel through fences.
“Israeli Druzen and Druze in the Golan Heighte feel that they should help their fellow dries in Syria,” says Zeedan. Some have family there, others feel religiously connected-among other things through the Druzen-Geloof in reincarnation. According to unconfirmed reports, some people even received weapons of Syrian relatives after arriving in Syria to join the fight.
That commitment is in contrast to the division within the Syrian Druzen community itself. This has to do with the fact that the province of Suwayda has three Druzzian spiritual leaders who together form a managerial council. They represent different currents and opinions, and therefore disagree about their relationship with the Syrian government.
The prominent spiritual leader sheikmat al-Hijri called for international protection earlier this week against what he calls a “total extermination war” by the Syrian regime. At the same time, the other Druze leaders declared their support to Damascus and shouted to lay armed groups on their weapons. A joint explanation of the entire spiritual leadership temporarily allowed Syrian troops to enter Sweida to stop the violence. But that same day, Al-Hijri withdrew that support, with reference that that statement about the welcome of the Syrian army was obliged to them by ‘pressure from international states’ and claimed that the content ‘completely from Damascus’.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Netanyahu called on Israeli Druzen to return: “You are Israeli citizen. Do not cross the border.” The IDF (the Israeli armed forces) also warned of serious risks, especially considering reports that the border post was understood.
At the same time, the situation is also reversed: hundreds of Syrian druzen have tried to flee to Israel, for fear of revenge actions or further escalation.
Israeli troops intervened with tear gas. The border remains officially closed, not only because of safety reasons, but also because of Israel’s policy to avoid a large influx of refugees – who would disrupt the demographic balance at the expense of a Jewish majority. “That is why Israel is keeping it at a distance solidarity,” concludes Zeedan.
In the meantime, the Syrian army has withdrawn and an agreement has been reached on a ceasefire.