A delegation of the Syrian drurse has rarely visited Israel over the weekend because of the pilgrimage to the shrine as Israel seeks to expand its influence in Syria after the fall of dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
Both Israel and Syria have significant minorities belonging to the sects of a company-religious minority that speaks in Arabic, scattered throughout the Levant region. But with Israel and Syria formally in the war for decades, Syrian societies They could not usually enter Israel to visit the places of the world to their faith.
Sheikh Muwafq Tarif, leader of the company in Israel who helped organize a two -day visit, said that about 100 people arrived on Friday in a convoy from Syrian territory. They also visited the grave of the Prophet Shuaib in the northern Galilee region of Israel, a place that is deeply appreciated in their faith.
“After being cut off for decades, to see our people come to our country – this is a moment of great joy,” said Mr. Tariff, adding that he knew most of the visitors only from telephone conversations, given the great difficulty in traveling between the two countries.
In Israel, many societies hold Israeli passports, serve in the national army and view themselves as a faithful “brothers in weapons”. The second in Golan altitudes, the territory that Israel captured from Syria in the war in the Middle East in 1967, still holding Syrian identity and have Israeli tickets to stay, not citizenship.
Ever since Mr. Al-Assad’s dictatorship failed in early December, Israel has launched a number of air attacks on Syria, which he says he has been aimed at preventing enemy forces to massage near his borders. But the moves encouraged the fear among the Syrians of the long -lasting Israeli occupation of the Syrian territory.
At the same time, Israel reached for Syrian societies, many of which live villages and cities in southern Syriaas potential partners.
Syria’s militia is under pressure to integrate into a unique national army that the new president is trying to establish. Israeli officials suggested that Israel could intervene on behalf of society, including military, if they come under the threat of government forces.
David Mencer, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said This week that Israel was “ready to defend himself, if necessary, the population of the company in Syria from the forces of the new regime.” The main Syrian militia society has directly rejected the offer.
Israel Katz, Israeli Minister of Defense, said this week that Israel is being prepared to allow some Syrian companies to work in Golan altitudes.
The society belongs to a sect that separated from Islam about 1,000 years ago, ultimately becoming a separate religion. His members, who are now scattered between Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and northern Israel, have often found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict in the region.
Since the fall of Mr. Al-Assad, the Israeli troops have embarked on the Syrian territory, seizing a 155-square-kilometer protective zone and bombing goals across the country. Israeli officials condemned the new government in Damascus for their Islamist leadership and said that their forces would remain in the Syrian territory in the foreseeable future.
New Syrian president, Ahmed al-SharaHe urged the international community to press Israel to withdraw. He also claimed that his government did not represent a threat to neighbors or religious minorities such as societies because the Syrians are tired of war.
