American Jews and Israeli Druze: Minorities pact

Last Week I accompanied the president of the Jewish Federation in Chicago Lonnie Nasatir, their CEO in Israel Ofer Bavly, and Rebecca Caspi director general of JFNA’s Israel office to the Village of Jules. We visited Shaykh Mowafaq Ṭarīf, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel.

This was a very emotional meeting partly because it happened a few days after 12 Druze kids were killed in a Hezbollah attack against the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. But emotions ran high also because Tarif wanted to personally thank Nasatir and Bavly for the wonderful assistance the Chicago community has given the Druze community in Israel.

Last year Chicago established and started funding a youth leadership project “Sanabel” that will take a selected group of young Druze, train them, and accompany them for 10 years. We will recruit 25-30 high school students every year and support them through high school, military service, university studies, and starting their careers.

Why, one might ask, would American Jews care about the Druze in Israel? The answer is simple: Israeli Druze are a mirror image of American Jews. They are both strong minorities who work diligently to contribute positively to their country and to integrate into general society.

The movement for increased partnership between Israeli Druze and American Jews has created strong bonds, in part because the Druze support the Jews and Israel politically. But the support is more than merely political: the Druze have sacrificed hundreds of their own in the military, defending Israel and its people. Young Israeli Druze are fighting bravely on the frontlines in every war.

Every year the Druze welcomes thousands of American Jews visiting their villages as part of Birthright trips. These students enjoy the warm hospitality of the Druze in Carmel and Galilee, and many of them remember the Druze part of the trip as the most interesting part of their tour. In return, those young Jews share their experiences, making the tiny Druze community very popular worldwide.

American Jewish involvement with the Israeli Druze is nothing new but it could be much more active. Sometimes I call myself the poster child of American Jewish philanthropy. I hope that many people like me get the same kind of support I got.

As a youth, I went to my town’s local branch of BBYO, which was supported by a generous American Jewish family. BBYO was one of the reasons that, years later, my town of Isfiya became known as the “town of ambassadors” – at one point three natives of Isfiya, including myself, were serving as ambassadors of the State of Israel, on three different continents.

My middle school education at the Leo Baeck School in Haifa was made possible by a Reform rabbi, Robert Samuels, who had decided that it was important to invest in the education of young Druze. Even my graduate studies at Harvard University were the product of American Jewish generosity. I was among the many Israeli government officials sent by the Ohio-based Wexner Foundation to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, one of the best public management schools in the world.

Most diaspora Jews today live in liberal democratic countries, from North America to Western Europe and from Central Europe to Australia. When they include non-Jewish Israelis in their philanthropic activities, they fulfill their own values and traditions and strengthen these values in Israel.

American Jews and diaspora Jews in general can make a difference in Israel by getting involved in the social well-being of moderate minorities in Israel. By strengthening the ties between these groups and their own, Jews will bolster the moderates and forever change the course of events in the Middle East.