Recently, against the backdrop of what appears to be the disintegration of Syria and the rise of jihadists to power, there has been a surge in the number of Druze in the Golan who are seeking to enlist in the IDF, and about 200 of them are currently in various stages of the recruitment process.

This is a very significant number considering the size of the Druze community in the Golan - a little over 20,000 residents, concentrated in four main villages: Majdal Shams, Bukata, Masada and Ein al-Qiniya.

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the vast majority of Druze in the Golan have hesitated to identify with the State of Israel, and have even demonstrated more than once their identification with Syria and the Assad regime. The main reason for this was the fear that one day Israel would return the Golan to Syria, and then the Alawite regime would come to terms with them (in addition, the Syrian regime purchased large quantities of apples from their orchards).

Until the 10/7 massacre, only a few members of the community enlisted in the IDF, and some would take off their uniforms before returning to their villages; since 10/7, there has been an increase in this trend, and in recent days, against the backdrop of the rise of Tahrir al-Sham - an organization that considers the Druze to be infidels, denounces them for their support of the Syrian regime and has repeatedly attacked the Druze villages in the Syrian Golan - there has been a surge in the number of those seeking to enlist.

At the same time, there has been a significant increase in the number of Druze from the Golan who are seeking to receive a blue ID card and become full Israeli citizens. Until now, they were entitled to this status, but the vast majority of them have chosen to remain as permanent residents, for the reasons mentioned above.

It seems that after decades of careful maneuvering between Syria and Israel, the Druze in the Golan Heights are beginning to choose sides and join their brothers in the Galilee, who long ago made a bloody alliance with the state.

NEWSRAEL: We must point out that there are 3 distinct groups of Druze in our region: 1) The Druze in Israel who have always been supportive of the Jewish State. 2) The Druze in the Golan Heights who were annexed by Israel after the six-day war in 1967 who until now stayed loyal to the Assad regime - who we are talking about in this news item and 3) The Druze in Southern Syria who were until now loyal to Assad (and are also asking to become part of Israel. We could add 4) The Druze in Lebanon who are anti-Israel and loyal to their state of Lebanon.

Source: Tamir Morag - Telegram