Two Druze soldiers were killed in the war.

One of the soldiers died from a rocket fired into Israel.
The other one was killed by “friendly fire” inside Gaza. He was serving in an elite unit called “Golani”. His father told reporters at the funeral that his son wanted to make a contribution to the country. There were no other option but the “Golani” for him and he did not give up until he was accepted into the unit. The platoon leader, being badly wounded, called the soldiers father from the hospital and told him that his son had saved his life by falling and covering him when the shell was fired.
His father said to the reporters that his son died as a hero and that their home is “the most Zionist home in the country.”

The Druze are known to be loyal citizens. They are neither Arabs nor Moslems and always represent a minority in the countries in which they live. They have always lived in areas with an Arab majority and therefore all their wars have been against Arabs.
The Druze community in Israel counts 100.000. They live throughout the Galilee usually in mixed villages and can be found as far south as to Mount Carmel.
The Druze signed an agreement with the Jews as early as in 1929. They felt threatened by the Arabs surrounding them and decided to team up with the Jews.

After World War I the British had changed the Ottoman Turks as rulers of the area. It was 1917 and ended a period of 400 years of Moslem, Turkish rule in this land. Freedom of religion was one of the first changes brought to the region by the British. This was welcomed by everyone except from the Moslems.
Towards the end of the 1920’s and the early 1930’s there were Arab riots in many towns. The Arabs felt threatened by all the non Moslem newcomers. Some of these were Christian but the far majority were Jews.

After the State of Israel was proclaimed the Druze entered into what is called the “blood covenant”. It was signed in 1956 and ever since the Druze have taken their part in defending the land as soldiers in the Israeli Army.
Today 83 percent of Druze boys do army service.
Somewhere between 33 and 40 percent of the Druze work as professional soldiers, police or other kinds of security officials.

Elin Elkouby