Community leaders urge Druze minority to “choose the lesser evil.”

During a meeting of representatives from six Druze villages in southern Syria on Thursday night, a proposal emerged to prevent jihadist Syrian rebels from advancing into Druze territories. The meeting also raised the possibility of annexing these villages to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, according to Israeli news reports.

Of the 55,000 residents in the Israeli Golan Heights, around 24,000 are Druze, a community adhering to an esoteric religious tradition rooted in Abrahamic, monotheistic, and syncretic beliefs, emphasizing the unity of God, reincarnation, and the eternity of the soul.

Historically, Druze communities have demonstrated loyalty to the regimes of the nations in which they reside. However, the Syrian civil war has forced the Druze population - estimated at 600,000 - to reconsider their allegiances, particularly as extremist Islamist groups pose significant threats to their survival.

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The council meeting took place in the Jabal al-Sheikh region (see video), where Druze leaders emphasized the urgent need for protection. Leaders from the village of Hader, in particular, voiced support for annexation by Israel, describing it as "a much lesser evil" compared to the risks posed by advancing Islamist factions.

They expressed deep concern about the potential loss of life, property, and dignity should their region fall under jihadist control.

"What is left for us is to be annexed to Israel," while annexation to Israel is "a much lesser evil than the evil coming our way," they said. The second, greater evil, they added, "might take our women, might take our daughters. They might take our houses. And we are with those who preserve our dignity."

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Druze communities have been split across the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line. While Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 and offered citizenship to the Druze population, the majority declined, identifying instead as Syrian nationals.

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Yet, the prolonged Syrian civil war has heightened the vulnerability of the Druze, especially following incidents like the 2015 massacre of 20–24 Druze in Idlib and the 2018 ISIS attack in Suwayda, which claimed the lives of at least 258 people, most of them civilians.

In the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Israel’s Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Mawafek Tarif, to discuss strategies for maintaining stability and security in southern Syria. Both emphasized the need to protect Druze communities from the advancing extremist factions.

The plight of the Druze in Syria underscores the broader complexities of the region’s geopolitics, with longstanding tensions exacerbated by war and sectarian violence. The potential annexation of Syrian Druze villages to Israel reflects a pragmatic survival strategy in the face of existential threats but raises significant political and legal challenges for Tel Aviv in the already contentious Golan Heights.

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Currently, Druze communities maintain armed militias to protect themselves from possible extremist attacks by Islamist forces. Some villages are occupied by Israeli forces.

As many as 110,000 Druze live in the Galilee district of northern Israel, where most have Israeli nationality and perform military service, unlike other Arab citizens.

In 2019, hundreds of Druze who live the occupied Golan Heights protested against the Israeli presence in their region, expressing support for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

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