The leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, talks with Reuters at his home in Julis, in northern Israel, on March 13, 2025. (Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters)
Dozens of Syrian Druze clerics traveled to Israel on Friday morning for a religious pilgrimage, marking the first such visit since the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, according to an AFP correspondent in southern Syria.
Around 60 Druze clerics gathered on the outskirts of Hader, a village in the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and Israel on the Golan Heights, under the watch of Israeli soldiers recently deployed in the area, the correspondent reported. Two buses from the Israeli side awaited them further away. Journalists were unable to speak with the Druze sheikhs, who were not allowed to bring mobile phones, according to a source close to the delegation.
Unprecedented visit to Israel
The visit was organized at the invitation of the Druze community in Israel.
The clerics plan to visit a sacred site near Tiberias, in northern Israel, and meet Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, according to a source close to the delegation. However, the visit has faced “strong opposition” within the Druze community.
The Druze, a heterodox sect of Islam, are spread across Lebanon, Israel, the occupied Golan Heights, and Syria, where they are primarily concentrated in the southern province of Sweida. After the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, Israel deployed troops in the Golan buffer zone, near the section of the plateau it has occupied since the 1967 war and annexed in 1981.
Meanwhile, the Druze community in Israel has sent food aid twice to Syrian Druze through the land border, with the latest delivery arriving Wednesday, according to a source close to the delegation.
Talks between Druze and new regime in Damascus
In early March, following skirmishes in a predominantly Druze and Christian suburb of Damascus, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened military intervention if Syrian authorities targeted the Druze. The remarks were swiftly rejected by Druze leaders, who reaffirmed their commitment to Syria’s unity.
The Druze have largely remained on the sidelines of Syria’s civil war, focusing on protecting their communities. Their representatives are negotiating with the central government in Damascus to integrate their armed groups into the future national army.