Druze protesters take to the streets, demand Israel step in to aid community in Syria
Demonstrators block traffic on several roads in north, leading to scuffles, also protest near Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea; Druze soldiers write to PM demanding IDF action in Syria
Druze protesters blocked roads in northern Israel late Thursday night and into early Friday morning during a protest calling for the government to assist the Druze community in Syria amid sectarian violence that has claimed dozens of lives in recent days.
The protesters shut down several key traffic routes in the north of the country, including a portion of Highway 6 between the Tel Kashish Junction and Ein Tut Junction. Highway 85 was also closed to traffic at the Rama Intersection, as was Highway 65 at the Tzalmon Interchange.
The road closures led to traffic jams, during which several fights broke out between the Druze protesters and drivers asking them to clear the road, according to video clips shared online.
The footage also showed the demonstrators burning tires at blocked intersections and climbing up traffic poles to hang Druze flags.
Along with the highway protests, dozens of demonstrators rallied near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea.
Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, together with Yisrael Beytenu MK Hamad Amar, later released a video statement calling on Druze demonstrators to clear roads and return to their homes.
תיעוד: מדורות על הכביש ועימותים בין המפגינים בני העדה הדרוזית לבין אזרחים שביקשו מהם לפתוח את הדרך
(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/KSo4UCBQvL— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 1, 2025
According to Ynet, a large number of those protesting were Druze IDF reservists who believe that Israel is failing their community inside Syria.
“We’re receiving increasing reports from our brothers that Sheikhs are going out to defend their villages themselves and are being slaughtered, while Israel stands by and doesn’t do anything to stop these atrocities as they promised they would,” one reservist told the news outlet.
“There is a historic covenant between the Jews and the Druze, and just as we stood up to fight for the State and die if necessary, at every opportunity and in particular in the face of the horrors of October 7, we must stand up and stop the current atrocities in Syria that are directed at our brothers,” he added.
Amid the protests, a group of Druze soldiers sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding IDF action “to stop the slaughter of our Druze brothers across the border in Syria — just as you and the defense minister promised.”
The signatories, which the Kan public broadcaster said included both reservists and conscript soldiers, also indicated they were willing to go alone.
“Hundreds of Druze soldiers are ready to immediately volunteer to fight alongside our brothers to save them even at the price of taking responsibility for the risks that doing so poses to our wellbeing and lives,” they wrote.
תיעוד מההפגנת בנ העדה הדרוזית בצומת עמיעד. צילום: לפי סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/NPD2MWW8Ue
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 1, 2025
The protests came after Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri condemned what he called a “genocidal campaign” against his community and urged immediate intervention by “international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes.”
At a meeting of Druze leaders, elders and armed groups in the city of Sweida, the community agreed it was “an inseparable part of the unified Syrian homeland,” a spokesperson said.
“We reject partition, separation, or disengagement,” the spokesperson added.
The Druze gathering on Thursday urged the government to engage “the judicial police in Sweida, drawing from the province’s own residents” on the issue.
Syria’s new authorities, who have roots in the al-Qaeda terror organization, have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with pressures from radical Islamists.
Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Thursday reiterated Syria’s rejection of demands for international intervention, posting on X that “national unity is the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival.”
“Any call for external intervention, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further deterioration and division,” he added.
Israel sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists and carried out strikes near Damascus on Wednesday, which it followed up with a further strike near the presidential palace in the Syrian capital early Friday morning.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement on the strike near Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa’s residential compound, which the IDF later confirmed.
Israel has attacked hundreds of military sites in Syria since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow and said its military would hit government targets “should the violence against Druze communities continue.”
It has also sent troops into the demilitarized buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights and voiced support for Syria’s Druze.
Several Syrian Druze wounded in the recent violence have been brought to Israel for medical treatment.
In a statement Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the violence and rhetoric against the Druze community in Syria was “reprehensible and unacceptable,” and called on the interim authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.