More than a third of the Druze living on the Golan Heights have already taken Israeli citizenship, most of them in recent years, according to new data from the Population and Immigration Authority. The vast majority of these new Israeli Druze citizens are under the age of 30, and new IDF data shows that many Golan Druze are enlisting in the IDF. One Druze expert on the matter told "Globes," "This reflects integration into civil society and is also a matter of political and national identification. We will see high voting percentages on their part in the upcoming elections."
The Golan Druze are today in the midst of a historical identity-forming process, after decades in which they were torn between their various identities: Druze, Syrian, Israeli. Since Israel captured the Golan Heights in 1967, and annexed it in 1981, the four Druze communities of Buka’ta, Majdal Shams, Masada and Ein Kaniya have been in a kind of limbo: most of them remained loyal to Syria and the Assad family regime. Israel offered them citizenship, but most refused it. They continued to maintain ties with their families in Syria, and received a travel document that allowed them to trade, work and even study at universities in Syria.
But all this changed with the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024. "The civil war and the disintegration of the social fabric in Syria sparked a dramatic change. This was seen as the fall of the relatively pluralistic Arab society," says Dr. Yusri Khizran, a historian at the Shalem Academic Center. "The Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 also reinforced the perception that it is difficult to trust Sunni Muslims who might 'turn' on them. They received confirmation of this fear in July 2025, when forces of the al-Sharia regime entered al-Suwayda in southern Syria, which led to a massacre. This was despite the fact that the Druze were not part of the civil war, and they also celebrated the fall of the regime. But that did not save them, and they were massacred just like the Alawites. There is also fear among the Druze in Lebanon about the Islamization of the region."
"Thanks to the Druze in the Galilee"
The Golan Druze are not only being pushed away from Syria, they are also being drawn to Israel. This is thanks to "the Druze in the Galilee and the Carmel, who are very much identified with Israel and have a distinct Israeli orientation. "It also draws the Druze in the Golan in this direction as an inspiration," says Khizran.
The combination of all of this has led to a dramatic wave of adopting Israeli citizenship. In the six years up until December 2024, 2,200 Druze from the Golan took citizenship. In a little over a year since then, up until February 2026, another 4,600 Golan Druze took citizenship. As of today, according to Population Authority data, over 10,000 Druze in the Golan, which is about 35% of all Druze residents of the Golan, are citizens.
A nearly generational phenomenon
In fact, even although it is still "only" a little over a third, those who have become citizens are not distributed evenly. Almost 57% are young people up to the age of 30. This is, therefore, a nearly generational phenomenon and almost everyone who comes to the Population Authority to take citizenship is young. A significant number of them are even minors, registered by their parents. However, it was not the trauma of the Hezbollah missile strike on Majdal Shams in mid-2024, which killed 11 Druze children, which immediately led to the surge in adopting citizenship.
Another reason for many young Golan Druze to adopt citizenship is to enlist in the IDF, which is the ultimate symbol of integration into Israeli society and a great source of pride for Druze in the rest of the country. Enlistment in the IDF, by law, requires taking Israeli citizenship. The IDF reports the beginning of a trickle of regular enlistments, with a single-digit number each year. As of today, 21 Golan Druze are in the process of enlisting and are currently preparing for this at the Golan Heights Preparatory School. A dedicated track was also recently opened for them, to prepare them for service. Many others choose to enlist directly into the reserve system, and the IDF reports 201 enlisted in 2024 and 2025 combined. "These are not things that existed until a few years ago," emphasizes Dr. Khizran.
The first Druze IDF casualty from the Golan Heights was killed in March in Lebanon - Maher Khatar from Majdal Shams, a combat engineer.
Not everyone has made the transition, and there are still those who hold on to their Syrian identity. This is also similar to the situation in Syria itself, where loyalty to the new regime or support for autonomy and ties with Israel are rival political positions. According to Dr. Khizran, "When there was a protest against the wind turbine project in the Golan Heights, Druze from the Galilee and the Carmel agreed to help on condition that Syrian flags not be flown."
This was the case, but according to publications on social media and in the Arabic press, it seems that there are those for whom the problem with placing the turbines is the Israeli takeover of occupied Syrian land. On the other hand, it should be remembered that the turbines are expected to be built on land owned by other Druze in the Golan, who agreed to lease them to Israeli company Energix.
Economic motive for integration
Another issue that is pushing the Druze in the Golan to integrate is the economic situation "In recent years, both the Netanyahu and Bennett-Lapid governments have initiated plans to strengthen the Druze in the Golan Heights," says Dr. Khizran. In March 2025, the government published a "Plan for Empowerment and Socioeconomic Development in Druze Towns in the Golan Heights," which includes the orderly planning of the towns, recognition and registration of private land. In total, this is an expenditure of over NIS 500 million, which will be spread over five years. This is a relatively short time after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, which began to accelerate the processes of ‘Israeliization’ of the Druze in the Golan.
And what next? Dr. Khizran notes that in 2018 municipal elections were held that were unsuccessful due to a low turnout, but in 2024, even before the fall of the Assad regime, there were elections that were more successful with a higher turnout. He predicts that in the upcoming elections, in 2026, there will be even higher voter participation. For Knesset elections Avigdor Lieberman is canvassing hard in the region, assuming that the Golan Druze will vote mainly for right-wing and center parties."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 24, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.