Netanyahu vows to empower Druze: ‘You are part of us, we are part of you’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif at his office in Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he wished to “empower” Israel’s Druze population and vowed to address the community’s needs and concerns.
The past year has seen the community, considered to be relatively well integrated with Jewish Israelis, express intense misgivings and anger over the passage of a quasi-constitutional law that enshrined Israel as the exclusive nation-state of the Jewish people.
Druze leaders have lambasted the legislation as creating official discrimination between Jews and non-Jews. Some have warned of a potential rift between the communities that would increase sectarianism and irreversibly damage the fabric of Israeli society.
On the occasion of the Druze holiday of Ziyarat al-Nabi Shu’ayb, Netanyahu said in a statement: “I view empowering the Druze population as very important. We have enacted policies of increased investment in Druze communities in order to minimize gaps and increase equal opportunity.”
He said he was “attuned to your needs, your difficulties, your concerns. I vow to address them thoroughly.”
And he asserted, “You are a part of us and we are a part of you.”
The Israeli Druze, who follow a 1,000-year-old offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, have historically made major contributions to public service in the country, with many serving in the Israel Defense Forces alongside their Jewish countrymen.
But many have expressed disappointment with the law, saying it unnecessarily humiliated them and lessened their place in society.