Israel urges U.S. to send military aid to Druze in Syria

Israel urges U.S. to send military aid to Druze in Syria

Published 15 June 2015

 

Israel has asked the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, who was visiting Israel last week, to help persuade the White House to rush aid to the Druze in Syria, where the retreat of the pro-government forces and the collapse of the Syrian army have exposed the Druze to attacks by both moderate Sunni rebels and Islamic State militants. Israel said it would be willing to extend humanitarian aid to the residents of Khadr, near the Israeli border, but that intervention to assist the Druze in the Jabal al-Druze region, deeper in Syrian territory, was not in the cards because it would amount to an intervention in the Syrian civil war. About 450,000 of Syria’s 700,000 Druze live in the Jabal al-Druze area.

Israel has asked the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, who was visiting Israel last week, to help persuade the White House to rush aid to the Druze in Syria, where the retreat of the pro-government forces and the collapse of the Syrian army have exposed the Druze to attacks by both moderate Sunni rebels and Islamic State militants.
Leaders of the Druze community in Israel – some of them current and former senior military commanders in the IDF — made urgent appeal to the Israeli government and military to consider intervening on behalf of the Druze to prevent what could develop into a human catastrophe similar to those inflicted on the Yezidis and other minority groups in Iraq.
Haaretz reports that after intense consultation, Israel’s political and military leadership told the leaders of Israel’s Druze that Israel would be willing to extend humanitarian aid to the residents of Khadr, near the Israeli border, but that intervention to assist the Druze in the Jabal al-Druze region, deeper in Syrian territory, was not in the cards because it would amount to an intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Ayoub Kara, an Israeli Druze who is a member of the Knesset from Likud, and who serves as deputy minister of regional cooperation, said that “It is important to emphasize that we are working in this context as a [ethnic] community, not as the government of Israel,” he said, adding that “all assistance that will be given [to Syria’s Druze] will be by fellow Druze, and I know that the Druze of Syria know how to defend themselves.”
Kara also criticized statements made on Friday by Wald Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon’s Druze community, called on him to send soldiers to Syria, saying: “Jumblatt has the option of sending troops, since the border is open. We [in Israel] cannot do that, and it’s preferable that he acts instead of just talking.”
Jumblatt said on Friday that Syria’s Druze population did not intend to ask Israel for assistance. “We don’t need [Bashar] Assad or Israel,” said Jumblatt, during a press conference in Beirut. “Both sides are speaking in sectarian terms, which only perpetuates sectarianism and divides the country” (see “Syrian Druze facing uncertain future,” HSNW, 12 June 2015).
Dempsey, who was in Israel on a farewell tour – he ends his term on 1 October – listened to Israeli suggestions that the United States rush humanitarian and military aid to the Druze from bases the United States maintain in Jordan, where American instructors are training moderate Syrian rebels.
Dempsey did not commit to U.S. action.
About 450,000 of Syria’s 700,000 Druze live in the Jabal al-Druze area. The Druze in the region are facing attacks by Sunni rebels from two directions: from the west the face the Southern Front – a newly formed alliance of rebel groups which includes both moderate elements supported by the United States but also the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. From the east, the Druze face Islamic State militants.
In the last ten days, the Syrian 52^nd Brigade collapsed and its forces fled the area toward Damascus, leaving its large military base to be captured by the Southern Front. The rebels also captured the Sweida military airfield in the Jabal al-Druze area.
Military observers say that the Druze have the manpower to form a self-defense militia: Since January, when the disintegration of the Syrian army became obvious, the Druze stopped sending young, military-age Druze to the Syrian military’s recruitment centers to be inducted into the Syrian army. The Druze thus have about 27,000 military-age men ready to serve in a Druze militia, plus about 2,500 52^nd Brigade soldiers who decided to remain in the area and fight with the Druze rather than defend the Assad regime in Damascus.
The analysts say, though, that what the Druze lack are experienced commanders, a well-developed command structure, and heavy weapons.
The Druze are worried about Islamic State because fundamentalist Sunnis view the Druze as heretics, but even moderate and secular Sunnis resent the Druze because of their alliance with the Alawites and the Assad regime.
The Druze believe, though, that they will be able to reach an accommodation with the Southern Front, and even with Nusra which, of late, has become more tolerant in in its approach to secular Sunnis and non-Sunni Syrians.
Last week, after twenty Druze were killed in a village in Idlib Province in north Syria, the Nusra Front issued a statement of regret. The group said it had received, with “great sorrow,” news of the incident in which “a number of Nusra Front members” had taken part without consulting their leaders. All those involved would face trial in an Islamic court, Nusra added. “Everyone involved in this incident will be presented to a sharia court and held to account for blood proven to have been spilt.”