The Druze and a moral obligation beyond borders

(JNS) — When we speak of Israel’s diverse society, the spotlight often falls on its Jewish majority. But among the most steadfast pillars of the Israeli mosaic is the Druze community — a tiny, secretive offshoot of Islam whose loyalty to the state has become a model of shared citizenship.

Roughly 140,000 Druze live in Israel, primarily in villages across the Galilee and on Mount Carmel. Unlike other Arab citizens, Druze men are subject to mandatory military conscription in the Israel Defense Forces and often volunteer for combat roles. They serve in elite IDF units, border security, and rise to top ranks in the army and police. For many Druze, defending Israel is not merely a civic duty but a core part of their identity as Israelis.

This deep partnership carries profound moral weight. It also creates a unique dilemma when the wider Druze community—spread across Syria and Lebanon— comes under threat. Over the past decade of Syria’s civil war, Druze villages, especially in the Jabal al-Druze region (Sweida), have been imperiled by jihadists, regime bombardment and growing chaos.

Nowhere is this tension more visible than on the Golan Heights, where Israeli Druze maintain close family and cultural ties to Druze across the border. When Druze communities in Syria have faced massacres or displacement, Israel’s Druze have organized rallies, pressed Jerusalem for action, and in some cases, threatened to cross the border themselves to defend relatives.

Israel has responded in ways that blur the line between humanitarian concern and strategic necessity. It has quietly provided medical treatment to wounded Druze fleeing the violence. There have also been credible reports that Israel has issued direct warnings to armed groups in Syria to avoid harming Druze villages. Most recently, over the past few days, Israel has struck Syrian army units that threaten Druze villages and, most recently, army headquarters in Damascus. Analysts believe these actions are at least partly an effort to deter attacks on Druze communities and signal that their safety is a red line.

So, what’s going on?

Some might see this as a break from Israel’s longstanding caution regarding the ongoing civil war in Syria. It may be better understood as an expansion of Israel’s ethos: that the state bears a special responsibility not only for Jews worldwide but for the close relatives of its own citizens, regardless of religion or where they live.

Israel’s compact with its Druze citizens is rooted in mutual sacrifice. Thousands have fought shoulder to shoulder with Jewish soldiers, protecting the nation’s borders and paying the ultimate price. In turn, when their cousins and uncles just across the border are under threat, Israel cannot look away without betraying this profound bond.

This is about more than geopolitics. It is a moral relationship, forged in shared defense of a homeland. Israel’s careful steps to protect Syrian Druze underscore that loyalty and partnership within a nation create obligations that transcend both faith and frontier. As crises continue to unfold on Israel’s northern border, the real question is not whether Israel should act to protect the Druze across the line, but how best to fulfill this moral debt while safeguarding its own security.

In standing with the Druze, at home and beyond, the Jewish State of Israel honors a promise far deeper than mere coexistence: a shared destiny built on trust, sacrifice and the unwavering conviction that no family, however defined, will face danger alone.

Stephen M. Flatow is president of the Religious Zionists of America. He is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995, and author of “A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror.”