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Druze in Israel
Ethnoreligious minority among Israel's Arab citizens / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Israeli Druze or Druze Israelis (Arabic: الدروز الإسرائيليون; Hebrew: דְּרוּזִים יִשְׂרְאֵלִים) are an ethnoreligious minority among the Arab citizens of Israel.[2] They maintain Arabic language and culture as integral parts of their identity, and Arabic is their primary language.[3][4]
![]() | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Arabic. (January 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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الدروز الإسرائيليون דְּרוּזִים יִשְׂרְאֵלִים | |
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Total population | |
c. 143,000 (2019)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 119,400 |
Golan Heights | 23,602 |
Languages | |
Religion | |
Druzism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Arab citizens of Israel |
In 2019, there were 143,000 Druze people living within Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, comprising 1.6% of the total population of Israel.[1]
Although Druzism, their ethnic religion, originally developed out of Ismaʿilism (a branch of Shia Islam), the Druze do not consider themselves Muslims.[5][6][7][8] In 1957, the Israeli government designated Druze Israelis as a distinct religious community at the request of Druze communal leaders.[9][10] Alongside the Jewish majority and the Circassian minority, the Druze minority is required by law to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, and members of the community have also attained top positions in Israeli politics and public service. As is the case for the Circassian community, only men from the community are drafted, while women are exempted; in contrast with Jews, for whom military service is also mandatory for women.[11]
Before the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Druze people were not recognized as a religious community, and were discriminated against by the local judicial system.[12] Druze Israelis are native Arabic-speakers; a 2017 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center reported that the majority of Israel's Druze also ethnically self-identify as Arabs.[13] Israel has the world's third-largest Druze population, after Syria and Lebanon;[14][15] the majority of Druze Israelis are concentrated in northern Israel.[16]
Survey data suggests that Israeli Druze prioritize their identity first as Druze (religiously), second as Arabs (culturally and ethnically), and third as Israelis (citizenship-wise).[4] A small minority of them identify as Palestinians, distinguishing them from the majority of other Arab citizens of Israel, who predominantly identify as Palestinians.[4]