Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced that Druze residents in Syria will be allowed to enter Israel to work this month.
Work permits will be issued effective March 16.
“We will soon allow Druze laborers from Syria to come to work in the Golan Heights Communities in Israel,” Katz said Tuesday during a tour of IDF installations on Mount Hermon earlier this week.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies cautioned Tuesday the decision could be premature.
“Israel opening its borders to Syrian Druze workers is a mistake. Israel will expose itself to unnecessary security and intelligence-gathering risks by admitting workers from a foreign country controlled by potentially hostile authorities where agents of Iran likely continue to operate,” said senior FDD fellow David Daoud.
“It was precisely such a move that allowed Hamas to gather intelligence on the Israeli communities along the border with Gaza,” Daoud warned.
The IDF moved its forces into the Syrian Buffer Zone and captured the Syrian Mount Hermon several months ago, following the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the IDF to “prepare to defend” the Druze suburb of Jaramana on the outskirts of Damascus following a raid on the community by Syrian government forces.
The defense minister added at the time that Israel would not allow Syria’s extremist Islamic regime to harm the Druze community.
