By Laurence F. Sanford

The Alawites and Druze are two small minority religious sects in Syria formed out of Shia Islam and are considered apostates by mainstream Sunni Muslims.

The new Syrian government is led by Sunni Muslims with a history of persecution against apostates, Christians, Jews, and other non-believers. The new constitution specifies that Islamic law is the foundation of the legal system and that Syria’s president must be a Muslim.

The interim Syrian president is Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) paramilitary group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria from 2000 to 2024. HTS was an Al Qaeda affiliate, though it has since split and is now backed by Turkey. Assad fled to Russia after the overthrow.

Russia along with Iran were supporters of Assad during the long civil war that began in 2011 by opponents of the Assad regime. Assad was a member of the Alawite religious sect.

On March 11, 2025, leaders of the Druze community signed an agreement with Syria’s interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, to integrate police and military units into state institutions. This development follows a similar accord Sharaa concluded with Syria’s U.S.-backed Kurds.

The Druze are primarily located in the southern Syrian province of Suweyda, bordering Jordan. Nearby is the Israeli Golan Heights, which has 24,000 Druze. In Israel, Druze are integrated into society and the military.

The Druze are a small, close-knit religious sect that formed as an offshoot of Shia Islam in Egypt during the reign of the sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amur Allah (996-1021 CE). Some Shia theologians promulgated that Hakim was a divine figure who would be reincarnated. This was considered heresy by fundamentalist Muslims, and the movement was persecuted and eventually disappeared in Egypt. However, small Druze groups survived in the mountainous regions of Syria and Lebanon.

The Arab-speaking Druze do not identify as Muslims and keep most of their faith secret. They do not allow outsiders to convert, and marriage is within the group. Druze scripture emphasizes mindfulness and truthfulness. The Druze population in Syria is 600,000, in Lebanon 250,000, and in Israel 140,000.

The Alawites represent 12% of Syria’s estimated 25 million population and reside primarily in the coastal cities of Latakia (home of a Russian naval base), Jableh, and Baniyas. During the long Assad reign, Alawites were placed in key government positions. While Sharaa made peace with the Druze and Kurds, Sunni Islamic terror groups were and are still slaughtering Alawites and Christians in towns and cities on the Mediterranean coast in reprisal for their support of Assad.

Summary

Actions speak louder than words. To consolidate his power, Al-Sharaa is promising peace and prosperity for Syria and respect for the minority Druze and Kurds. He is talking nice to the West to receive money. The EU pledged 2.5 billion Euros days after the HTS genocide began against the Alawites.

Israel considers the Druze as a buffer from Islamist terror groups, as they live in areas near Israel and have not participated in actions against Israel. Israel vowed to protect the Druze community in Syria from Islamic terror groups, but Druze leaders rejected the offer.

Israel has also moved into Syrian territory that abuts Israel to act as a buffer if Sharaa moves to fulfill Islamist Turkiye and Iran’s mandate to wipe Israel off the map.

Turkiye supported HTS when it controlled a small enclave in northwest Syria and now has a significant influence within the new government. Turkiye also controls the Syrian National Army (SNA) rebel group, which was formed to fight against the Kurdish U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria.

Action

1. Support Israel and recognize that Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East. All other Middle Eastern countries are Islamic, where religious minority groups, including Christian, Zoroastrian, and Sufi, are persecuted and discriminated against in varying degrees of harshness.
2. Recognize Russia and China are waging unrestricted warfare against the United States all over the world, including the Middle East.
3. The U.S. should withdraw its 2,000 American soldiers in Syria that support SDF Syrian Kurds. The political environment has changed with the Kurds signing a truce with the national government and Turkiye’s increased influence.
4. No funding by the U.S. to the new Syrian government until it demonstrates it respects minorities and has not become an Islamic theocratic dystopia.

Laurence F. Sanford is a senior analyst at the American Security Council Foundation.