Many dozens of Druze have been fleeing the fighting in Suweyda and been crossing the border into Israel. And Israeli Druze have been urging the Israeli government to do more to oppose the Syrian regime that they blame for unleashing attacks on the Druze.
More on what the Israeli Druze have been doing, and how Israeli officials are reacting to the violence in Suweyda, can be found here: “Dozens of Israeli Druze cross border into Syria as violence in Syria escalates,” i24News, July 15, 2025:
Tensions in the Golan Heights and southern Syria reached a breaking point on Tuesday, as dozens of Druze civilians crossed from Israel into Syria near Majdal Shams….
The Druze going from Israel into Syria were intent on helping their fellow Druze fight back against both the Syrian army, and the Bedouin. But what the Druze really needed, and got, was the airstrikes that only the IDF could provide. Israel is now the acknowledged protector of the Druze. And the Druze in Syria may now want to have the Jabal al-Druze become an autonomous region, protected by, and attached to, the Jewish state.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli openly called for the elimination of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, whom he labeled “a barbaric murderer.”
“Ahmad al-Sharaa is a terrorist in a suit and tie,” Chikli wrote on X. “We must not stand idly by as the Islamist-Nazi regime slaughters Druze civilians. He must be eliminated without delay.”…
Knesset members from Druze communities, including Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beitenu) and Akram Hasson (New Hope), joined the call for international intervention and a regime change in Syria.
The “international intervention” that these Druze MKs have in mind consists of one country — Israel. And while much of the Western world, including the American government, has been willing to view Ahmed Al-Sharaa as a changed man, no longer a jihadist but a pragmatist, the Israelis remain deeply skeptical.
And with good reason. The Sunni Muslims in Syria apparently didn’t get the memo from al-Sharaa that was meant to assure the country’s minorities — the Alawites, the Kurds, the Christians, and the Druze — that they need not worry, for they will receive equal treatment with the majority Sunni Arabs. The Sunnis who killed more than a thousand Alawites in Latakia in mid-March certainly didn’t pay any attention to al-Sharaa’s assurances. Nor did those Sunnis who attacked the Druze in their village of Jaranama, at the end of April, or those who then attacked another Druze village, Sahnaya, where they murdered the mayor, Hussam Warwar, and his son.
What will now happen? I hope that the Israelis, keenly aware of the sacrifices the Druze in Israel have made for the state, will use drones and planes to strike the Sunnis now in Druze villages in Syria, in order to push them away. if necessary, the IDF should send in ground troops to those Druze villages located just beyond the Golan Heights. Weapons should be brought in and distributed to the Druze. Those Druze in Syria who live outside the perimeter of security established by the IDF should move to those Druze villages closer to Israel, where the IDF soldiers will protect them.
But what should the Druze in Syria do in the long run?
Some Israelis have suggested that the Druze living in a southern suburb of Damascus should simply move 40 miles closer to the Israeli border — the new border, which was established by the Israelis after Assad fell — where it would be easier for the IDF to defend them. It could become an autonomous region for the Druze, akin to the Jabal Druze that existed during the French Mandate between 1921 and 1934.
Another possibility is for the Druze to choose not to live in an autonomous statelet next to Israel, but to request that their villages be formally annexed to Israel. Almost all of the Druze living in the Israeli Golan will finally be willing to become citizens of Israel. They know Israel is not going to give up any part of the Golan. The Druze in Syria will also be discussing the desirability, and the feasibility, of demanding to have their population centers in southern Syria be made an autonomous region, protected by, and just possibly, attached to, the Jewish state. What could Syria do to prevent it? Fight the Druze and the IDF? Of course not. Israel’s Druze would have their commitment to the state reaffirmed and rewarded; the new Druze citizens would be, like the Druze in Israel, loyal and effective fighters for the state. And the spectacle of Druze freely choosing to become part of Israel will certainly be of great interest to the Alawites, the Christians, and especially the Kurds in Syria.
Buraq says
As we now know, Israel is more than capable of taking out the bespoke-suited jihadi, Julani! May they do it sooner, rather than later. .
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Trump didn’t allow Israel to move against Iran. What makes one think he’ll bless further Israeli actions against Syria, given that he’s already blessed the annexation of the Golan Heights? Or Israel interfering in the internal matters of another country, in this case Syria?