The determinism of geography and survival strategy: The political role of the Druze minority in Israel

Document Type : Review

Author

Department of West Asian & African Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The situation of minorities in the Middle East is one of the most complex issues in political sociology. The West Asian region is home to a diverse and plural mix of numerous minorities. Among the existing minorities, the Druze are considered one of the "middle minorities". This ethnic/religious group is spread across three regions: Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. This paper attempts to explore the nature and identity of this ethnic/religious group and the various aspects of their interaction in the three those regions, and to arrive at an appropriate model of political behaviour based on "safe survival." The issue of this research is how this minority continues its different political life in the three mentioned regions and to understand why they have deep ties with the Jewish state. The hypothesis of the article is that the effort to survive and without being eliminated and assimilated into the Muslim majority and to establish and maintain a specific Druze identity, forces them to align with the Jewish state. The macro interests and inherent expediency in the survival of the nation take a specific form in each country that mentioned, and in particular, the acceptance of cooperation with the Jewish state, and of course, acceptance by Israel, has provided the basis for mutual benefit and alignment. In this research, the method of discourse analysis will be used to obtain the key to past interaction, understand the process of cooperation, and chart the path for the future. The research findings show that this interaction is based on mutual benefit and will continue as long as it continues for both sides in the Israel.

Keywords

Main Subjects

حوزة موضوعی: اقلیت دروزی

Scope: Druze minority

References

Abdoh AM. (2022). “The political and intellectual influence of the Druze”. Journal of Arab Studies. 45(3): 1559-1586. https://dx.doi.org/10.21608/dram.2022.222099. [in Arabic]
Abou-Hodeib T. (2020). "Involuntary history: Writing levantines into the nation". Contemporary Levan. 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/20581831.2020.1710674.
Aboultaif EW. (2018). "Revisiting the Druze politics in Palestine under British colonial rule". Arab Studies Quarterly. 40(3): 233-253. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/arabstudquar.40.3.0233.
Abousaleh T. (2019). The Israeli Role and the Druze State Project. Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies. [in Arabic]
Abu-Izzedin N. (1984). The Druzes: A New Study of their History, Faith and Society. Leiden: Brill.
Ahmed A, A(l)sahnavi Z. (2022). “Can the "Men of Dignity" eliminate armed gangs in Sweida?”. The New Arab. August 5. https://www.aajsa.com/politics/. [in Arabic]
Alkhatib MA. (1989). Druze Faith, Introduction and Criticism. Riyadh: Dar Alam Al Kotob. [in Arabic].
Atashi Z. (2001). The Druze in Israel and the Question of Compulsory Military Servic. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
Azizeh T. (2024). “The role of Druze officers in Syrian political life from independence until 1967”. Ghalamoon. 7: 79-96. https://www.harmoon.org/wp-content/. [in Arabic]
Balanche F. (2016). The Druze and President Assad: Strategic Bedfellows. Washington Institute. [in Arabic]
Bashir N. (2017). “Shaping the identity of Zionist minorities: The Druze case in Israel”. Israeli Affairs Journal. 67: 76-93. https://www.madarcenter.org/index.php?preview=1&option=com_dropfiles&format=&task=frontfile.download&catid=1141&id=1255&Itemid=1000000000000. [in Arabic]
Belge C, Karakoç CB. (2015). "Minorities in the Middle East: Ethnicity, Religion, and Support for Authoritarianism". Political Research Quarterly. 68(2): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912915580627.
Betts  RB. (1990). The Druze. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Bonacich E. (1973). "A theory of middleman minorities". American Sociological Review. 38(5): 583-594. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2094409.
Doyle P. (2023). Lebanon. Guilford: Brad Guide.
Eickelman DF. (2012). Religious Minorities in the Middle East. Leiden: Brill.
Esman MJ, ‎Rabinovich I. (2019). Ethnicity, Pluralism, and the State in the Middle East. London: Cornell University Press.
Faham F. (2025). “What do the Druze want in Syria?”. Aljazeera. May 4. https://www.aljazeera.net/politics/. [in Arabic]
Firro K. (1999). The Druzes in the Jewish State: A Brief History. New york: Brill.
Frisch H. (2011). Israel's Security and Its Arab Citizens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gelber Y. (1992). "Antecedents of the Jewish-Druze alliance in Palestine". Middle Eastern Studies. 28(2): 352-373. https://doi.org/10.1080/00263209208700905.
Gelotte S. (2016). National Identities among Israelis and Palestinians. Master Degree in Global Studies. University of Gothenburg. https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/handle/2077/45155/gupea_2077_45155_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Halabi Y. (2018). "Minority politics and the social construction of hierarchy: The case of the Druze community". Nation and Nationalism. 977-997. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12430. 
Harik JP. (1994). "Shaykh al-'Aql" and the Druze of mount Lebanon: Conflict and Accommodation. Middle Eastern Studies. 30(3): 461-485. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4283653.
Hazran Y. (2023). "Civil Trends amongst the Golan Druze community in the wake of the popular uprising in Syria". International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. 528-563. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718115-bja.
---------------. (2019). Minority Groups in Palestine during the British Mandate. PhD Thesis: Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies.
Hitti P. (1928). The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred writings. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kaplan R. (2012). The Revenge of Geography : What the Map Tells us about Coming Conflicts and the Battle against Fate. New York: Random House.
Khaizran, M. Kh. (2018). Blood Pact: Israeli Policies Towards the Arab Druze Community in Israel. In Y. Khaizran. Y (Ed.), The Arab Druze in Israel: Critical Political Approaches and Perspective (pp. 86-113). Mada al-Carmel, the Arab Center for Applied Social Research. [in Arabic].
Khaizran Y. (2013). "Re-confessionalising the Shi‘ites and the Druzes: The failure of secularism in Lebanon". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 40(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2013.790292.
Khazran Y. (2014). The Druze Community and the Lebanese State: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation. Routledge.
Kheir EA. (2023). Codeswitching as an Index and Construct of Sociopolitical Identity: The Case of the Druze and Arabs in Israel. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
Khnifess A. (2015). Israel and the Druze Political Action: Between Politics of Loyalty and Politics of Violence. SOAS University of London. https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00022832.
Kohenn H. (2010). Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967. California: University of California Press.
---------------. (2008). Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917–1948. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kumaraswamy PR. (2003). "Problems of studying minorities in the Middle East". Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations. 2(2): 244-264. https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/tjir/v2n2/tjir_v2n2kup01.pdf.
Laclau E, Mouffe C. (2001). Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politic. London: Verso.
Lapidus I. (2002). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Liefin ZE. (2017). The development of Arab social thought 1917-1945. A. Ibrahim (Trans.). Hindawi. [in Arabic]
Lennox C. (2020). Transnational Social Mobilisation and Minority Rights. London: Routledge.
Mackinder HJ. (1904). "The geographical pivot of history". The Geographical Journal. 23(4): 421-437.
Makarem SN. (1974). The Druze Faith. New York: Caravan Books.
Mamdani M. (2020). Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities. London: Harvard University Press.
Marshall T. (2015). Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know about Global Politics. London: Bookwire GmbH.
Marshall S, Das R, Pirooznia M, Elhaik E. (2016). "Reconstructing Druze population history". Scientific Report. 6, 35837. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep35837.
Min Sh. (2021). The Expulsion of the Syrians from the Golan Heights- The Story of the Druze- from the Israeli Point of View. A. Abu Jabal (Trans.). Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies. https://www.harmoon.org/researches/. [in Arabic]
Neisan M. (2010). "The Druze in Israel: Questions of identity, citizenship, and patriotism". The Middle East Journal. 64(4): 575-596. http://dx.doi.org/10.3751/64.4.14.
Nir Boms CV. (2025). Beyond the Brink: Israel’s Strategic Opportunity in Syria. Institute for National Security Studies.
Nisan M. (2010). "The Druze in Israel: Questions of identity, citizenship, and patriotism". The Middle East Journal. 64(4): 575-596. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40926501.
Obeid A. (2006). The Druze and their Faith in Tawhid. New York: Syracuse University Press.
Parsons L. (2000). The Druze between Palestine and Israel, 1947–49. New York: Martins press.
Romagnoli A, Mengon L. (2014). The Economic Development Process in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
Saleh S. (1984). "Relations between the Jews and the Druze between the two World War". In P. Artzi, Studies in History: Confrontation and Coexistenc (pp. 192-165).
UNHCR. (2025). "Minorities and indigenous peoples". January 27. https://emergency.unhcr.org/protection/persons-risk/minorities-and-indigenous-peoples.
Zeedan R. (2019). "The role of military service in the integration/segregation of Muslims, Christians and Druze within Israel". Societies. 9(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/soc9010001.
Journal of Countries Studies
Volume 4, Issue 3
Special Issue of Israel Confrontation approach with the World
2026
Pages 477-508

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 23 June 2025
  • Revise Date: 05 August 2025
  • Accept Date: 13 August 2025
  • First Publish Date: 19 August 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 November 2026

Share

How to cite

Statistics