A Druze community member reportedly stated that annexation by Israel would be preferable to the anticipated consequences of jihadist rule following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
According to the Times of Israel, the Syrian village of Hader has purportedly requested to become part of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. This report stems from an unverified video featuring a Druze individual expressing concerns about the future.
After opposition forces, spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists, launched a successful offensive across Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed last week. The former president subsequently resigned and sought refuge in Russia with his family.
In a video shared on X on Friday, with English captions, a Hader resident, claiming to represent the Druze people, addressed a crowd, emphasizing the need to consider their future. The village lies within the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, which Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops entered last week.
“If we must choose, we will choose the lesser evil,” he stated. “Even if annexation to the Israeli Golan is considered evil, it is far less so than what awaits us,” he added, referencing HTS, formerly known as the Al Nusra Front – an Al Qaeda offshoot in Syria.
“That evil could take our women, our daughters, and our homes,” he said, urging the Syrian Druze to be liberated from past and potential future oppression by Islamist rebel groups.
“We have requested annexation to the Golan to preserve our dignity,” the man said, claiming to represent the Druze community in the surrounding Quneitra Governorate. “We request, on behalf of the entire area, to join our brethren in the Golan, and live with the freedom and dignity enjoyed by our people [in Israel].”
Before the civil war, approximately 48% of Syria’s Druze population resided in the Suwayda Governorate, roughly 90 kilometers from the Israeli border, according to a 2010 census cited by the Times of Israel. However, many are believed to have since fled to safer areas.