Some 100 senior figures from Syrian Druze community to visit Israeli Golan Heights
Group is expected to meet Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif in Israel and visit shrine; Jerusalem has said Syrian Druze will be allowed to work in Israel
A group of around 100 senior figures from among Syria’s Druze are expected to visit the Israeli Golan Heights on Friday, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing members of the community.
The group is expected to meet Sheikh Muafak Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, as well as other members of the community and to visit a shrine.
There was no immediate confirmation of the visit from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The Druze, a minority ethnic group present in Syria, Israel and Lebanon, practice a faith that originated in Islam but which has a distinct identity.
In Israel, many Druze serve in the military and police, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached high rank. On Sunday, the government approved a five-year plan worth approximately NIS 3.9 billion ($1.1 billion) to address issues facing Druze and Circassians, another minority in Israel.
Friday’s visit was the latest sign of Israeli support for the Druze, since a ceasefire in Lebanon and the shock overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad in Syria towards the end of last year.
This week Defense Minister Israel Katz said Druze from across the separation line would be allowed to enter the Golan Heights for work and even that Israel would be ready to defend the community, following days of violence in Syria.
Israel has called repeatedly for the rights of Syrian minority groups including the Druze to be protected, and has cited the Druze as a reason for its continued, “indefinite” presence in nine military posts in southern Syria.
Earlier this month, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “prepare to defend” the Druze-majority city of Jaramana on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria, amid clashes between local gunmen and the new Syrian regime.
Israeli ministers have expressed deep mistrust of the new Syrian government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who, under his nom-de-guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the interim government reached an agreement to integrate the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida — which borders Jordan, but not Israel — into state institutions.
