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3. The Druze: Riding the Tide in a Turbulent Middle East

The Druze question has reemerged at the forefront of the current regional scene, following the regime change in Syria and Israel’s incursion into Syrian territory through the demilitarized zone in the occupied Golan Heights. All this is compounded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning that Israel would intervene in Syria to protect the Druze.


 

Who are the Druze and where are they located? 

For generations, the Druze, numbering just over 1 million across four countries in a volatile Middle East, have successfully navigated the region’s seismic geopolitical shifts.

Like a number of other ethnic groups in the Middle East, such as the Kurds, the Druze today live in several different countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan, separated by borders drawn after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s. But unlike the Kurds, who are largely Muslim, the Druze are a unique religious and ethnic group. Their esoteric faith dates back to the 11th century and incorporates elements of Islam, Hinduism and even classical Greek philosophy.

After facing persecution under the Fatimid rule in 11th-century Cairo, where their faith originated, the Druze fled to lands to the east where they resettled and where their faith grew. They have since observed the self-protecting principle of “taqiyya” – the tactical concealment of religious belief in the face of persecution.  But while adhering to the tenets of their faith, the Druze communities adapted to their surroundings, pledging allegiance to whichever state they find themselves in.

In Lebanon, the Druze number roughly 300,000, making up an estimated 5.5% of the population. They are mainly located in Mount Lebanon, notably the Chouf and Aley districts, and in the southeastern portion of the country, in Wadi al-Taym, Hasbaya and Rashaya.

Despite being a minority, they wield significant political influence through the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the country’s main Druze party, under the leadership of the Joumblatt clan. Their attachment to the land is predominant, as they maintain the belief that while the political regimes may perish, the land remains.

While Lebanon has the largest concentration of Druze, its much larger neighbor, Syria, has the largest Druze population – more than 700,000 in the early 2020s. They were early supporters of the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party. In 1963, Druze military officers joined the coup that brought the party to power, which was later dominated with an iron fist by the Assad dynasty.

The Druze of Syria are mainly concentrated in the southern part of the country, namely in Sweida and Jabal al-Druze (the Mountain of the Druze). Making up 3% of Syria’s population, the community has always aligned itself with the regime. During the war that erupted in 2011, local Druze militias were created to protect the area against attacks by opposition groups and Islamist rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

With the ouster of Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024, at the hands of Islamist groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under the command of former al-Qaeda operative Ahmad al-Sharaa, the community faces big challenges amid Syria’s uncertain future. While welcoming Assad’s fall, Syrian Druze are weary of the Islamist background of the country’s new rulers. The majority are hesitant about disarming and integrating in the “new Syrian army” before a new constitution is endorsed and the ruling system is clarified. While some have declared allegiance to Sharaa, a few Druze are in favor of self-rule and autonomy in southern Syria, a movement reportedly nurtured by the Kurds who run their own autonomous region in northeast Syria.

In Israel, the Druze community is estimated to number 150,000, roughly 2% of the country’s population, mostly living in the northern regions of the Galilee, Carmel and the Golan Heights. They are a close-knit community active in public life. They largely identify with Israel and for more than four decades, the Israeli military had a Druze infantry unit called the “Herev” or sword battalion, in contrast with Israeli Arabs, who are exempt from military service. 

A tiny Druze community, estimated at 20,000, lives in Jordan. They are concentrated in the rural, mountainous areas west and north of Amman. The Jordanian government classifies them as Muslims.

“Throughout history, even as storms of geopolitical upheaval raged around them, the Druze managed not only to avoid annihilation – if not always conflict – but also to hold on to their lands and their distinct identity while living alongside their Sunni and Shiite Muslim, Christian or Jewish neighbors,” Salah Takieddine, the Editor-in-Chief of PSP’s al-Anbaa publication, told This is Beirut in an interview.

“Their attachment to their land is key to their survival. They could navigate the upheavals of the region because wherever they are located, the Druze are attached to their State, regardless of the nature of the State, and they never interfere with other communities,” Takieddine continued.

“In Syria, for instance, they were allied with the former regime in order to survive and protect themselves. And today, they will never accept to become like the Druze of the Golan Heights under the control of Israel. Estranging them from the Syrian state will be extremely difficult if not impossible,” he added.

Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Joumblatt, has been outspoken against any attempt to separate Syria’s Druze from the state, accusing Israel of fomenting dissent and scheming to partition the region into sectarian entities.

According to Takieddine, Joumblatt will be visiting Damascus soon to urge the new Syrian ruler to take into account the status of the Druze community in the country’s future.

“In other words, he would be telling Sharaa that the Druze should not be excluded from national congresses, future governments and legislation, and that their areas should be included in reconstruction, development and growth plans. Otherwise, he would be serving those in favor of autonomy and separation from the Syrian state,” Takieddine concluded.