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whose ancestors were Muslims centuries ago, the Druze could fall prey to Islamic provisions
condemning to death those who convert to another religion. The Druze have several holy sites
in Israel, notably tombs of important prophets, such as Jethro's Tomb (Nebi Shuaib) on the
edge of the Sea of Galilee, where the Druze gather annually on April 25 to discuss community
affairs.
Israel recognizes the Druze as a distinct religious minority, which means that they have their
own court system for matters of personal status like marriage and divorce, as well as their own
state-recognized spiritual leadership. They speak Arabic but often intersperse Hebrew words.
Numbering about 124,300 people in 2010, the Druze represent over 1.6 percent of Israel's
total population and roughly one-tenth of its Arabic speakers. About 100,000 of them live
either in exclusively Druze towns and villages or in towns and villages together with Christian
and Muslim Arabs; these settlements are located throughout the Mount Carmel and Galilee
regions in the northern part of the country. Another 20,000 Druze live in the Golan Heights.
The biggest Druze town in Israel is Daliyat al-Karmel, located on Mount Carmel. Mixed-
population towns with Druze and Muslim Arab residents include Isfi ya and Shfar'am. Other
Druze villages include Peki'in and Beit Jann.
In the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, there are four main Druze
communities. Majdal Shams, the largest, has a population of 8,000. Golan Druze are Syrian
citizens but were offered Israeli citizenship when Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981.
Only about 1,500 Golan Druze — fewer than 10 percent —hold Israeli citizenship. The rest
have permanent resident status; they maintain their Syrian citizenship and at least a nominal
loyalty to Damascus. Most refused Israeli citizenship, explicitly due to Syrian patriotism but
largely from fear of Syrian retribution should that regime ever again control the area. A few
have left the area to settle elsewhere in Israel, notably in Eilat.
After the 1967 war, Israel's capture of the Golan Heights separated the Druze communities
in the Golan from the Druze in Syria. The state of war between Israel and Syria meant that
the border was closed, so Druze on the two sides communicate at a place called Shouting Hill,
where they can see and talk to one another, often with the aid of a megaphone or, recently,
mobile phones. Druze students and pilgrims to the shrine of Abel, one of their prophets, are
permitted to cross over into Syria, and brides are allowed to make a one-way trip.
Neither Islamism nor Arab nationalism appeals to the Israeli Druze, although a few be-
came Communists, and they look to fellow Druze in Lebanon and Syria rather than Arabs or
Muslims as part of their wider community. Although the Druze at fi rst supported the Arabs
in the 1948 war with Israel, they changed sides — perhaps having concluded that Israel would
win — in what was called the Pact of Blood.
Since 1956, the Druze living in Israel have been conscripted into the IDF and have reached
high-level positions in the military, the Border Police, and the government. In 1974, a special,
mainly Druze unit was formed; this Battalion of the Sword is usually known as the Druze
Battalion. Druze serve in all sections of the IDF. Unlike the Druze citizens of Israel, however,
the Druze of the Golan are not drafted to the IDF, although a small number serve voluntarily.
There is also a Druze Zionist Organization. Four Druze were elected to the Knesset in the
2009 elections, a number representing double their percentage in the population as a whole.
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