Who are the Israeli Druze?
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The Druze are an ethnic and religious minority who live in Israel—as well as a few other Middle Eastern countries—and make up between 1 and 2% of Israel’s citizen population. As one of the region’s largest minority groups, the Druze play an important role both inside Israel, and also in connection with Druze communities in other countries, such as Lebanon and Syria.
Israeli Druze
Israeli Druze are an Arabic-speaking population whose religion branched off from Ismaili Islam, but they are not Muslims. They consider themselves to be ethnically Arab, and their culture has much in common with Arab Muslims and Christians. However, they are more likely to consider themselves Israelis than Arab Muslims or Christians with Israeli citizenship.
Members of the Druze community have been involved with Israel since its founding, with some groups serving in the 1948 war on the Jewish side. To this day, many Druze serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, as they are included in Israel’s compulsory military service law. Druze have served in the Knesset for many different parties, including Labor, Likud, and the Arab party Balad. Salah Tarif was a government minister in 2001 under the leadership of Ariel Sharon, making him the first non-Jewish minister in government.
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Discrimination
The Druze have faced discrimination and persecution throughout their history, with periods of severe repression and violence. In modern Israel, the Druze have faced less oppression, with some members even reaching high positions of power within the military and government. However, they still, as a non-Jewish minority, bear the brunt of laws such as the nation-state law, which could potentially restrict their movement and ability to pass on Israeli citizenship.
Israeli Druze still maintain contact with Syrian Druze communities, many of whom live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, making mobility difficult.