Israel ready to defend Druze from ISIL forces

Response could open country to stream of refugees

JERUSA LEM • Israel risks being drawn deeper into the Syria conflict as Islamist militants pose a threat to the Druze community on its northern frontier.

The Israeli military would act if needed to prevent a massacre of Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, whose southern section Israel controls, army chief Gadi Eisenkot has told a parliamentary panel. Druze citizens of Israel are demanding aid for their co-religionists after the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front killed more than 20 in a recent attack.

“I expect Israel to assist the Druze, just like it helps Jews all over the world,” said Ayoub Kara, a Druze lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. Kara, who is leading a campaign for Israeli involvement, called for “major humanitarian aid” to be sent immediately.

On Wednesday, Syrian rebels launched an offensive against government positions near the Golan Heights and surrounded the Druze village of Khadr.

The rebels of the Southern Front alliance and the so-called Haramoun Army targeted several areas in the Golan, including the towns and villages of Quneitra, Khan Arnabeh, Baath and Jiba, and the base of Brigade 90, the main government force in the region, opposition activist Jamal al-Jolani said.

The Haramoun Army, which includes al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate and the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham, shelled the area while Southern Front fighters advanced on the ground, al-Jolani said via Skype.

Israel is officially neutral in Syria’s civil war, though reports say it has carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah, the Shiite militia that is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad against Nusra and other Sunni groups.

Responding to the Druze plight could open the Jewish state to a stream of refugees.

The Israeli military is preparing for the possibility of establishing a “safe zone” for Syrian Druze on the Golan frontier, Israel Radio said, citing unidentified security officials.

Netanyahu hinted Israel is preparing to get involved, telling parliament Wednesday the government is “closely following all developments on our borders” and “my inclination is to take any action that is necessary.”

Druze are an offshoot of Shiite Islam. About 700,000 of them live in Syria, with smaller communities in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Many are joined across borders through family ties.

Israeli Druze serve in the army, unlike most Arab citizens of the Jewish state, and hold senior positions in government, though some complain of discrimination. The Golan Druze generally have good ties with Israeli authorities.

The Nusra attack on June 10 that killed 23 Druze in the Idlib region was the deadliest against the community since the Syrian war started, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Nusra has apologized and called it an “unjustified mistake” committed by local fighters.

Thousands of Druze in Israel and the Israeli-held Golan have staged protests to demand Israeli assistance for the Syrian Druze, through military action, the establishment of a safe zone or humanitarian aid.

Israel’s Druze have raised about 10 million shekels ($3.2 million) for their Syrian co-religionists, Kara says, without ruling out the possibility that some of that money may be used to buy arms.

“I’m pretty sure the government is looking into ways to get weapons to the Druze, if they’re not already doing so,” said Moshe Maoz, professor emeritus of Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Kara, who visited Jordan last week to get assurances from officials there of safe passage for Druze, says Israel also may have to consider admitting refugees if the Syrian situation deteriorates.

Insurgents have been on the offensive in southern Syria for the past three months, capturing military bases, villages and a border crossing point with Jordan.

Maj. Issam el Rayyes, a spokesman for the Southern Front, said the aim of the offensive “is to liberate remaining regime targets in Quneitra.”