Israel and the Syrian Druze: An Explainer

Amid the ongoing clashes in the southern Syrian province of al-Suwayda’ between Syrian government forces and local Druze factions, Israel has conducted multiple strikes on government forces and assets in a clear bid to prevent and deter government forces from forcibly imposing their control over the province. Israel declares that these actions are being undertaken to protect Syria’s Druze community. Unsurprisingly, the declared rationale is met with widespread skepticism. The skepticism is typified by a widely shared comment from X user ‘Calibre Obscura’, referring to Israel’s strike on the presidential palace area: “But they never hit Assad. All this talk about the Druze is the most transparent excuse ever to destabilise a barely recovering country. Insane.” But is the Druze issue merely a pretext for a supposedly more sinister agenda?

Leaving aside the alleged merits or drawbacks of Israel’s policy, I would contend that Israel’s concern for Syrian Druze is genuine, and that this genuine concern can also exist alongside what one might see as a more cynical long-term aim of Israeli policy towards Syria.

Israeli intervention in Syria has attracted the sympathy of some Syrian Druze. For example, the former head of the National Defence Forces (a defunct pro-Assad militia) in al-Suwayda’ shared this clip on his Facebook page in support of Israeli actions.