Two prominent Israeli rabbis have spoken up to back the country’s decision to intervene militarily to protect the Druze community in southern Syria after days of violent clashes that left dozens of civilians dead.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber on Thursday issued an open call to Israel and the world to help the Druze in Syria, citing the biblical commandment “Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor� (Leviticus 19:16).
In a rare move, Ber also appeared to draw a comparison between the violence perpetrated against the Druze in southern Syria and persecution against Jews in the past.
“We are witnessing a brutal campaign of murder against the Druze people, an assault on the image [of God] in humanity,� he wrote. “These are acts that we and all religious leaders around the world must not ignore or remain silent in the face of. We have seen savage beasts descend in a fury upon innocent civilians, without distinguishing between man and woman, elder and child. We are reminded of the dark days of history, when bloodthirsty nations committed similar atrocities — and the world was silent!!!�
The statement marks a departure for the rabbinical leader; chief rabbis rarely comment on defense issues or matters involving other faiths.
More than 350 people had been killed in clashes this week between Druze and Bedouin fighters in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said early Thursday. Hours earlier, Syria announced it had begun withdrawing its army from Druze-majority Sweida city after agreeing to a new ceasefire that it said would bring a complete halt to its military operations there. The arrangement has been rejected by some Druze leaders.
Witnesses in Sweida said government forces dispatched there with the stated objective of ending the violence joined with Bedouins to attack Druze fighters and civilians.
SOHR reported that since clashes erupted on Sunday, 79 Druze fighters were killed along with 55 civilians, 27 of them in “summary executions by members of the defense and interior ministries,� while 189 defense and interior ministry personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed.
Israel carried out several strikes on Wednesday in Damascus and on Syrian regime forces deployed to the areas of southern Syria where the fighting had been taking place.
“The divine commandment ‘Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor’ obligates us to raise a cry and stir the conscience of the entire world,� Ber wrote, describing the violence against the Druze as “ethnic cleansing.�
“We must also remember that some members of this community — and their relatives — live among us and are bound to us in a covenant of blood, forged in shared sacrifice for the existence of the State of Israel,� he added.
Around 150,000 Druze live in Israel, most of whom hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the IDF. However, of the some 23,000 living in the Golan Heights, most do not hold Israeli citizenship and still see themselves as Syrian nationals. They maintain close links with communities in Syria, where some 700,000 Druze live.
Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, a hardline religious Zionist leader, who is known for incendiary statements against Arabs, also called on Israel to assist the Druze, describing it as a “moral obligation.�
“The Torah teaches us that every human being is beloved, having been created in the image of God (tzelem Elokim),� Eliyahu wrote in a statement shared on the Facebook page of his office. “Showing contempt for others and degrading them stands in direct opposition to the values of the Torah. Disregard for human life violates the most fundamental principles that God has given to us — and to the entire world.�
“The members of the Druze community have defended Israel with great courage since the founding of the state,� he added. “The Torah tells of the special bond that existed between the people of Israel and Jethro, the father of their nation, over 3,000 years ago.�
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is revered by the Druze as the most important prophet of their highly secretive faith.
“We express our support for the government of Israel, which has warned the Syrian regime not to allow its forces to abuse the Druze,� Eliyahu further wrote. “We also support the IDF in striking Syrian forces that have attacked Druze civilians. It is our moral obligation to defend the Druze community, which has entered with us into a covenant of blood.�
Eliyahu is a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, which serves as the leading authority on Jewish law for the government and providers of religious services in the country. He is the father of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
Eliyahu is known for controversial statements and rulings on Jewish law, including one that forbade the rental or sale of Jewish-owned property in Safed to Arabs. A year ago, he also backed his son’s statement about the possibility of dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.