Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Syria’s Sweida governorate, made a remarkable statement this week.
The Druze, he declared, are “an inseparable part” of the state of Israel, “even in terms of faith”.
These comments should not be dismissed as just another provocative declaration by a religious leader opposing the government in Damascus. They reveal something much deeper: the emergence in Sweida of a narrative strikingly similar to the one cultivated for decades by Zionist political discourse.
This narrative advocates the separation of the Druze from their Arab and Islamic environment, and their relocation - both politically and historically - into an Israeli Zionist framework.
This is not about Hijri seeking Israel’s support. His relationship with Israel has been developing for years.
