A Syrian Druze delegation of some 100 local leaders will be permitted to visit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Friday.
The group will meet with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, while also visiting a shrine, according to Reuters.
There has been no official confirmation of this visit from the Foreign Ministry, though Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said Syrian Druze will be able to enter Israel to work starting on Sunday.
The Druze are an Arab ethnic minority found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and are known for being extremely loyal to the states in which they reside. Most Israeli Druze men serve in the Israel Defense Forces and security services, and many have attained senior rank.
In addition to allowing Syrian Druze into Israel, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz have warned Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara’a (also known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Julani) that if the Syrian Druze are harmed, he faces Israeli retaliation.
“We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. We have instructed the IDF to prepare and deliver a harsh and clear warning: If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us,” the Israeli leaders said in a joint statement issued on March 1.
The Israeli government has expressed deep mistrust toward Syria’s new president and his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement, which has historical ties to jihadist groups and is strongly backed by Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This skepticism has further solidified Israel’s commitment to supporting the Druze community during this period of instability.
Additionally, it has made the IDF more determined to “remain in the Hermon sector and the buffer zone [in the Syrian Golan Heights] indefinitely to protect our communities and thwart any threat,” according to Netanyahu.