Growing number of Golan Druze seek Israeli citizenship; 20% already hold nationality

The Druze population in the Israeli Golan Heights has historically maintained an ambivalent relationship with Israel due to strong familial ties with the Syrian Druze community across the border. While seeking Israeli citizenship was once considered taboo, data from the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority reveals that a record number of Golan Druze now applying for Israeli nationality.

Approximately 6,000 out of 29,000 Golan Druze currently hold Israeli citizenship accounting for 20.45% of the local Druze population. This figure is reportedly double the percentage of Druze with Israeli citizenship at the start of the 21st century.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the Six-Day War of 1967 after being attacked by Syria. Many Golan Druze remained loyal to Syria for various reasons; some felt a genuine affinity with Syria, while others feared that a pro-Israel stance would undermine the safety of their family members in Syria.

However, in early December, the local Druze population overwhelmingly celebrated the fall of the Syrian Assad regime, which ruled neighboring Syria with an iron fist for over half a century. 

One unintended consequence of the current Iran-led terrorist proxy war against Israel is that it brought the Golan Druze community closer to the Jewish state. In late July, a rocket fired by the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah killed 12 local children from the Golan Druze town of Majdal Shams. The Assad regime was a close ally of Hezbollah and played a critical role in the transfer of advanced weapons from Iran to the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group. 

Dr. Salim Brik, an academic expert on Arab society at Haifa University, believes the growing number of local Druze seeking Israeli citizenship is linked to the turmoil in Syria and the realization that the Golan Heights will remain Israeli territory in the future. 

Dr. Yusri Hazran, a research fellow and senior lecturer at Jerusalem’s Shalem College, offered an insightful perspective of the complex relationship between the Golan Druze population and the Jewish state. 

“The Druze see their mother country disintegrating with the fall of the Assad regime and they are looking for an anchor,” Hazran assessed. 

“I believe that the upward trend in citizenship requests will continue. I can’t think of anything that would change the graph in the coming years. On the contrary, I estimate that a further increase is expected,” he continued. 

Dr. Tayer Abu Salah, a researcher who heads the Golan Association for the Development of Arab Villages, believes the local Druze population will be impacted by the future development in neighboring Syria. 

“If what happens in Syria is positive, it will have a positive impact on the Golan – and vice versa,” Abu Salah said. “In any case, it must be pointed out that, even after 57 years of Israeli occupation, most of the Druze community in the Golan is still loyal to their country of birth, which is Syria.”

However, in December, Majdal Shams Mayor Dolan Abu Saleh stated that the majority of the local Druze population wants to be part of the State of Israel. 

“I love this place very much. I love to be part of society in the State of Israel,” Saleh said. “Both personally and as a community, we want to feel an indivisible part of the State of Israel, not only in name, but also through receiving budgets and sharing resources from the state, and that this feeling will be mutual and not one-sided.”

The Druze mayor also backed Israel’s decision to seize the buffer zone between Syria and Israel in order to prevent hostile jihadists from threatening Israeli border communities. 

“The State of Israel needs to create a barrier that will protect its residents and citizens,” he said.