Boundaries of Druze Identity in the Culture of Militarism in Israel

The management of social and cultural diversity is an issue that is central to discussions about contemporary militaries because it touches upon civil–military relations, the social role of the armed forces and the politics of identity. This paper is framed within a discussion of the Israeli state and the non-Jewish minority structure within the nation. Israel has constructed its nation in such a way that there is a clear division between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, a phenomenon exemplified through its conscription laws that determine who must serve in the military based first and foremost on his or her religious affiliation and then on one’s ethnic origin.

This research will be focusing on one such minority - The Druze, sandwiched between the Jews and Arabs of Israel, by their collective identity and public stance have nonetheless made a discerning mark on Israel`s ethnic and political map. For the Druze, the Israeli character, not simply the formal citizenship, is an exceptional common identification that demonstrates that Israeli-ness supports Jews as well as non-Jews too. Other communities - Circassians, Bedouins, some Muslims and Christians view this as unfair thus having hostile outlook towards Druze. This raises the question of the extent to which the Israeli establishment and society generally have accepted or in fact habitually accept the Druze as run-of-the-mill, unhyphenated Israelis and this creates the need of understanding identity and to what extent serving in the IDF effects the social life of the Druze minority.









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