A crowd gathered around the Israeli Druze leader, Sheikh Mouafak Tarif, and a hundred elderly Syrian Druze clerics during the first visit of a Druze delegation from Syria since the 1973 war at the Nabi Shu'ayb shrine, a holy site in northern Israel, on March 14, 2025. (Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters)
The Druze community's Council of Dignitaries issued a statement on Friday in which this institution "warns against the danger" of visits by religious figures of the community to places considered holy in Israel.
"We have been notified of an invitation sent to the sheikhs of Hader and the Ballane area [in Syria] to visit holy sites in occupied territory," the statement said. "The Druze Council of Dignitaries warns Lebanese brothers, and particularly the community's religious figures, against the dangers of emotional drift and the repercussions of participating in this occasion or others, given the legal consequences of travel to occupied territory."
The statement saiod that the Druze institution "will be ready to hold accountable and withdraw any religious cover from those who do not respect these directives."
A delegation of Syrian Druze sheikhs visited the Israeli-occupied Golan on Friday, crossing the demarcation line at Majdal Shams for the first time in 50 years. A source within the Druze community told AFP that the delegation was to visit northern Israel in Julis to meet the religious leader of this community in Israel before heading to pray near Tiberias at the tomb site of Nabi Shuaib, the highest Druze saint in Israel. The convoy of three buses carrying the delegation was escorted by Israeli military vehicles.
Among the Druze parties in Lebanon, a source from the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) stated that the party stood behind the position displayed by the Druze Council office.
The Lebanese Democratic Party of Talal Arslan said in a statement that it "respects the choices and decisions of the sons of the Druze community in Syria and trusts their wisdom and awareness."
"However, it remains important to preserve our Arab nationalist identity and our relationship with our Arab and Muslim environment, based on our values, history, and beliefs," it added.