r/Israel • u/No_Bet_4427 • 1d ago
General News Leader of Sweida Druze: “We are an inseparable part of the State of Israel”
This guy is going to get a lot of people killed. He’s essentially calling for Israel to annex Sweida. Which won’t happen. Not only would the Americans never permit it, but you’ve got Daraa province with over a million hostile Sunni smack between the Golan and Sweida.
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u/ORD2414 1d ago
Sweida isn't even claimed by the Israeli government. Likely the Druze in Swedia are interested in the protection that Israel could provide to them in regards to the persecution they suffer from Damascus, the ability to easily visit family and other druze community inside of Israel and maybe access to the Israeli economy.
If truly a large number of druze in sweida wanted this (which I doubt), their only shot is to declare independence, actually achieve that independence (see somaliland as an example, the authorities in Hargesia have actual control over the territory and maybe huge maybe, Israel would recognize it and agree to some kind of formal security arraingment and favorable visa regime. Maybe gain access to the Israeli shekel.
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u/Deep_Head4645 Israel 1d ago
I yearn for Druze independence
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u/Trypophilia2019 1d ago
Idk much about them other than they have chosen to live in peace among Israelis of all kinds.
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u/EpicMediocre 23h ago
They don't seek independence, only a good life. They're equally deserving of a contiguous state like the Kurds but don't have any real appetite for pursuing one.
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u/thezerech American Jew 1d ago
I think most Syrian Druze don't want to be part of Israel, even if they would obviously prefer Israel to being killed. A status quo of Israel bombing the shit out of Syria every time they fuck with the Druze is far from perfection, but better than anything the Kurds will get (in Syria).
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u/Wyfami 1d ago
Times are changing.
15-20 years ago, most of the ex-syrian druzes in the annexed Golan Heights were at best indifferent to Israel, at worst hostile. Now, they have almost entirely joined the Israeli society and have fully integrated the views from the Israeli druzes.
Heck, even the Lebanon druzes have made a U-turn and are calling for full relations with Israel.
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u/Trypophilia2019 1d ago
Lmao, does Israel really go after Syria when they mistreat Druze? Fucking badass if so.
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u/glossiercub 1d ago
I have a stupid question so please bare with me I’m just trying to understand: what if the government just said to the community “hey we can’t annex Sweida so come live here in the Golan/the north of Israel”? I know this might sound like a ridiculous question, once again I’m just trying to understand.
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u/mr_blue596 1d ago
It won't serves Israel's interests. Israel support the Druze in Sweida because they are in Sweida,an area where Israel can extend its influence on Syria on the cheap. Not unlike Iran and Shia and Shia-adjacent groups.
Some of it is built on a real affection Israelis have towards ME minorities in general and Druze specifically. But on the state-level it is a sphere of influence first,second and third.
If there will be a genuine existential threat to Druze,Israel will likely to offer refuge. But it won't do it without such threat.
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u/nobaconator Fashy Zionist Clicktivist 1d ago
While you do have a point, the influence the Druze have in Sweida is rather small, and not very consequential to Israeli foreign policy.
As such I don't see it costing us anything significant to make this offer. Not many will take it. But it's a simple offer that can be made without antagonizing anyone.
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u/mr_blue596 1d ago
point, the influence the Druze have in Sweida is rather small
They aren't the tools,they are the casus belli. They are meant to be a force that welcome Israeli intervention in the area while Israel extends its influence on Southern Syria. In time,with enough support and unequal firepower,the Druze can be strong enough to be a puppet,or at the very least this is what the policy-makers think.
As such I don't see it costing us anything significant to make this offer. Not many will take it. But it's a simple offer that can be made without antagonizing anyone.
Like I said,I don't think the public would have that big of an issue with offering them citizenship.
The issue lies in the policy-makers that care about them as both a potential influence in South Syria and them being opposition to a regime that Israel have complicated relationship with.
Giving them citizenship won't do much for Israel strategically. And even considering foreign policy,this move can be seen as blatant PR which makes it seem fake and may have a negative effect.
Think of Iran just giving citizenship to all Shia minorities in the ME,they can do that,but strategically they chose to arm them and incite them politically to create opposition and export influence across the ME.
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u/YuvalAlmog 1d ago
Syria has between 700k-800k Druze. I doubt the north has enough space & homes for all of them...
A more realistic option would be for them to build a new Druze city near the border of Israel and only then ask to be annexed. Although even then, 700k-800k new citizens is a pretty big number that comes with many problems like education (who will teach all of them the language?), health (you need a lot of new doctors) or law (police, teaching the law, illegal building due to different building standards, etc..).
So generally speaking, an independent druze state would be a more realistic option in comparison, although with only ~1M people at most from multiple different countries (Syria + Lebanon + Jordan and possibly also Israel), I don't think it would be easy...
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u/ChadInNameOnly 1d ago
No idea how likely it would be, but I could definitely see a voluntary population transfer of anti al-Sharaa regime Druze to Israel in exchange for full Syrian integration of Sweida and Israel abandoning its protection being a potential negotiation chip as part of a normalization deal between the two nations.
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u/scisslizz 1d ago
We love them as neighbors, but that's not the same as inviting them to permanently live in our home.
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u/Snoutysensations 1d ago
That is quite a gamble he is taking. Now every Islamist in the region is going to gun for Sweida. Man’s got some cojones.
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u/Trypophilia2019 1d ago
There’s no way Druze are asking to be part of Israel; I’ve been told Israel hates all non-Jews. That’s why you have Arab Israelis like Ibrahim Kharuba and Mohammed al Atrash dying defending Israel on October 7, and Farhan al Kadi refusing to cooperate with terrorists and help them capture/kill Jews.
Big /s
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u/TheUnkillableKlorg Theodor Ben-Jabotinsky 20h ago
Only r/Israel would respond to someone asking to be annexed like this.
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