Strife in Syria: The Threat to Syrian Druze

Описание: The short-lived period of relative stability in Syria after the Assad dictatorship’s collapse and the Sharaa regime’s rise is over. Sectarian fighting in early July between Syria’s Bedouin and Druze minorities in the Suwayda region led to Syrian military intervention that indiscriminately targeted the Druze. This led Israel to conduct airstrikes aiming to demilitarize areas of Syria—including Suwayda—near Israel’s borders and to protect the embattled Syrian Druze.

Though a tenuous ceasefire slowed the conflict’s pace, the Syrian Druze continue facing dire circumstances. And, as a forthcoming JINSA policy paper observes, the internecine conflict has major regional implications. The new Syrian government’s treatment of minorities is an important bellwether of the regime’s ability and willingness to turn Syria into a stable, constructive, and moderate regional player.

JINSA hosted a webinar on the situation facing Syria’s Druze minority and Israeli and U.S. policy toward Syria. The webinar will feature JINSA Distinguished Fellow IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s former National Security Advisor, Andrew Tabler, the Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Alex Makled, Managing Director at Accenture and an outspoken advocate for Syria’s Druze community who holds positions in the American Druze Society and the Jabal Alrayan Foundation.

JINSA Director of Foreign Policy Jonathan Ruhe moderated the discussion.