Israel to issue permits for Syrian Druze workers
Israel has announced it will issue work permits for members of the Syrian Druze community amid reports showing that the regime is supporting separatist tendencies in the Arab country.
Israel's Defense Ministry said on Sunday it will allow Syrian Druze workers to enter the occupied Golan Heights without offering any information on when and how the scheme would start.
However, the announcement comes against the backdrop of reports suggesting Israel is helping Druze separatists in Syria to create an independent state in the south of the country months after the toppling of the central government in Damascus.
Some 24,000 Syrian Druze live in Golan, an area occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War with the Arabs and annexed by the regime in 1981.
Despite its policy of treating the Druze people in Golan as second-grade citizens in the past , Israel started to reach out to members of the community after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fell from power in December.
Reports show the regime has prepared more than $1 billion in funding to support the Druze in Golan, a policy that experts say is aimed at persuading members of the community to reject the new government in Damascus.
That comes as a large number of Syrian Druze families have relatives living in the occupied Golan.
A report published by the Wall Street Journal last week showed that Israel has a vision to keep Syria weakened and divided.
The report said that Israeli officials have been lobbying world powers to keep the current government in Damascus weak.
Turkish sources have also indicated that Israel has de facto control of Qunaitra, one of three Syrian provinces that share a frontier with the Israeli-occupied territories.
Leader of the Druze community in Lebanon Walid Jumblatt has criticized Israel’s policy of reaching out to the Druze in Syria, saying the regime wants to use Druze soldiers and officers to repress Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
UN rights chief demands immediate end to killing of civilians in Syria
Clashes, revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 dead in 2 days
Hezbollah rejects ‘baseless’ claims of involvement in Syria violence
VIDEO | 'Israel uses aid entry as leverage in negotiations'
VIDEO | Gaza agricultural collapse: Food security dire issue
VIDEO | Calls grow for self-reliance as USAID cuts funds to India’s welfare programs
Resistance forced Israel to accept ceasefire: Hezbollah
International Paralympic Committee awards Iran for 'development of women's sports'
Israel to issue permits for Syrian Druze workers
Israel's Ben-Gvir pushes bill to end Oslo Accords, other agreements
VIDEO | Clashes erupt as thousands march on International Women’s Day in Paris
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
