‘Like Watching the Berlin Wall Fall’: Israeli Druze Eager to Reconnect With Syrian Families

Photo Credit: Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL

Israeli Druze at a lookout point along the Syrian border on Dec. 8, 2024 as the Syrian government collapsed.

(TPS) As Bashar Assad’s government fell on Sunday, Israel’s Druze community eager to reconnect with relatives across the border watched with special interest.

“It’s like watching the Berlin Wall fall all over again,” Wael Mugrabi told The Press Service of Israel with palpable emotion. “The fear that gripped people for so long is suddenly gone. For the first time in decades, my relatives in Syria feel free to speak to me.”

Mugrabi is the head of the Ein Qiniyye Local Council in the Golan Heights, home to around 2,100 Druze.

“Especially as soon as I became the head of the Local Council, my relatives in Syria knew I represented the State of Israel,” he told TPS-IL. “It wasn’t safe for them to talk to me. But yesterday, I received a call—a call I never thought would come. They said, *‘Finally, we can talk. Finally, we can live.’”

He shared with TPS-IL the moment when he reached out to family and friends across the border for the first time in years.

“I told them, ‘Soon, we’ll be there with you,’ and their response amazed me. They said, ‘We can only hope you’ll come. We wish for it so much.’ They couldn’t believe it had happened, couldn’t believe the regime had fallen. But in the end, the facts speak for themselves. The truth is undeniable—he’s gone, and we are here,” Mugrabi said.

This newfound freedom, however, is fragile.

“The streets are filled with celebration,” Mugrabi said. “But beneath the joy is a deep uncertainty. Who will take over? Will it be the local rebels, or will extremists like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra exploit the chaos? For the Druze, this is a life-or-death question.”

He is deeply concerned about the safety of the estimated 700,000-800,000 Syrian Druze, who mostly live in the southern areas near the Israeli and Jordanian borders.

“We Druze have always been a target — whether in Syria or elsewhere — because we are a minority,” he explained. “But we know how to protect our homes and our land. The question is whether the broader region will stabilize or descend into greater chaos.”

Israel, which shares a complicated relationship with the Druze in the Golan Heights, has stepped up efforts to engage with Syrian Druze communities amid the upheaval. Israeli security officials have enlisted Druze leaders to build bridges across the border and provide humanitarian support.

“We’re living in a unique moment, a window of opportunity,” Mugrabi says. “If handled wisely, this could lead to a future where Druze on both sides of the border can thrive in peace. But if the extremists take control, it will be disastrous—not just for the Druze but for everyone in the region.”

Mugrabi also points to the historical connection between the Druze and the Jewish people. “The bond we share is one of survival,” he says. “We’ve both faced persecution, and we’ve both learned how to stand our ground. This is our strength and our hope for the future.”

When asked about his hopes for the future, Mugrabi’s response is a mix of pragmatism and optimism. “In war, no one truly wins. But we can hope for a quiet border, for a future where we can visit each other freely, and where the region finally finds peace. For now, we watch, we wait, and we pray.”

Israel’s Druze community of 152,000 trace their ancestry back to the Biblical figure Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Israeli Druze serve in senior positions in public and military life, and the bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is referred to as the “covenant of blood.” The Druze speak Arabic but are not Muslim and are very secretive about their religious beliefs.

The Druze living in the Galilee and Mount Carmel areas sided with the Jews in 1948 during Israel’s War of Independence, opted to be part of Israeli society and established themselves in all areas of public life.

When Israel captured the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967, the Golan Druze refused Israeli offers of citizenship, believing Syria would recapture the plateau. But attitudes have changed since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011.