A delegation of Syrian Druse recently made a rare visit to Israel for a pilgrimage to a shrine, as Israel aims to extend its influence inside Syria following the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Both Israel and Syria have sizable Druse sect minorities, but due to their formal war status, Syrian Druse were generally unable to enter Israel to visit their holy sites. Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, a Druse leader in Israel who helped organize the two-day visit, stated that roughly 100 people arrived from Syrian territory and visited the Tomb of the Prophet Shuaib in the northern Galilee region of Israel, a site of deep reverence in their faith.
In Israel, many Druse hold Israeli passports, serve in the national military, and are viewed as loyal “brothers in arms.” Others in the Golan Heights, captured by Israel from Syria in 1967, hold Syrian identity and have Israeli residency cards, not citizenship. Since the collapse of al-Assad’s dictatorship, Israel has launched airstrikes on Syria to prevent hostile forces from gathering near its borders. This has raised concerns among Syrians of a prolonged Israeli occupation of their territory.
During this time, Israel has reached out to the Syrian Druse, many of whom live in southern Syria, as potential partners. The Druse militias in Syria face pressure to integrate into a unified national military established by the new president. Israeli officials have suggested that they could intervene, possibly militarily, if the Druse were threatened by government forces. The major Syrian Druse militias have flatly rejected this offer.
Recently, the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, announced preparations to allow some Syrian Druse to enter Israel to work in the Golan Heights. The Druse sect, which broke away from Islam approximately 1,000 years ago, now comprises a separate religion with members scattered across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and northern Israel. They have often found themselves on opposing sides of regional conflicts. Following the fall of al-Assad, Israeli troops have occupied a buffer zone in Syrian territory and continue to bombard targets across the country. Israeli officials have denounced the new government in Damascus for its Islamist leadership and stated that their forces will remain in Syria for the foreseeable future. The new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Shara, has called on the international community to pressure Israel to withdraw and has maintained that his government poses no threat to neighbors or religious minorities like the Druse, as Syrians are weary of war.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/world/middleeast/syria-druse-visit-israel.html
