The Druze flag decorated with a Star of David can be seen in the Druze town of Daliat al-Karmel, northern Israel August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen 

A Druze boy holds a placard showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a rally in the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Members of the Druze community take part in a rally in the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Members of the Druze community take part a rally in the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Members of the Druze community stand near Syrian flags during a rally in the Druze village of Buqata on the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Members of the Druze community stand underneath a Syrian flag during a rally in the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Members of the Druze community hold Syrian flags during a rally in the Druze village of Buqata on the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Members of the Druze community stand underneath a Syrian flag during a rally in the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2016. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Sunday, marking the 35th anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner 

Druze men walk past a banner depicting Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, as they head to pay their condolences during a memorial for his death at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. The arabic words on the banner reads, "From Hamza al-Khatib to Aylan, to Wahid al-Balous, The Syrian people are united". REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (R) walks to address his supporters during a memorial for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt addresses his supporters during a memorial for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (2nd R) and Druze Highest Sheikh al-Aql Naim Hassan (2nd L) accept condolences for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

A Druze man holds up a sword as he arrives with other men to pay their condolences during a memorial for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A Druze Sheikh stands in front of a poster depicting Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, during a memorial for his death at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. The arabic on the poster reads, "Diginity never dies". REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Druze Sheikhs use their mobiles phones as they listen to their Druze leader Walid Jumblatt during a memorial for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Druze Sheikhs and supporters carry Druze flags as they listen to their leader Walid Jumblatt during a memorial for the death of Druze Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a leader of the minority Druze community in Syria, at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Lebanon, September 10, 2015. Syrian state media said on Sunday that an Islamist insurgent had confessed after his arrest to being behind two car bomb blasts that killed 37 people in the south of the country on Friday, including a Druze leader. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

Members of the Druze community watch the funeral of Israeli Druze police officer Zidan Nahad Seif in the northern village of Yanuh-Jat November 19, 2014. Two Palestinians armed with a meat cleaver and a gun killed four rabbis and a Druze police officer in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, the deadliest such incident in six years in the holy city. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

The predominantly Druze town of Rashaya is seen in this general view taken October 29, 2014. On mountains close to the Syrian border, members of Lebanon's minority Druze sect say they are ready to defend their towns and villages with arms if the civil war next raging door gets much nearer. The town is in a sensitive area close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and home to various religious communities which fought one another in Lebanon's own 1975-90 civil war. On the other side of the mountain range, Sunni Islamist fighters linked to al Qaeda and hostile to groups including the Druze, are battling Syria's army as well as other insurgents. Fresh battles over the border late last week killed at least 31 members of pro-government forces and around 14 insurgents, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on November 9, 2014. Picture taken October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) 

Druze men look at smoke rising on the Israeli-controlled side of the line dividing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria following fighting near the Quneitra border crossing August 27, 2014. Al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front and other Islamist fighters have taken control of the border crossing, a group monitoring the Syrian conflict said on Wednesday. The fighters captured the Quneitra post on the Syrian side from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad after fierce clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The crossing is monitored by the United Nations, which oversees traffic between the two enemy countries but the distance between the two warring adversaries' posts is some 200 meters (yards). During the fighting, a stray bullet wounded an Israeli soldier in the Golan Heights and Israel responded with artillery fire at two Syrian army positions, the Israeli military said. It was the latest spillover of violence from the three-year conflict. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (MILITARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Druze women walk beside Roman ruins in Shahba, in the Sweida governorate June 22, 2014. The Syrian Ministry of Tourism organized a trip, part of many, in order to promote internal tourism to safe places and cities around the country that has been undergoing war for more than three years. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY TRAVEL) 

A woman from the Druze community uses binoculars to watch fighting between forces loyal to the Syrian regime and rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, from a hilltop overlooking Syrian villages in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights June 10, 2013. Austria has begun withdrawing peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, winding down a four-decade mission due to spillover fighting from the Syrian civil war, the defence ministry said. Picture taken June 10, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS) 

Members of the Druze community take part in a rally in the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, which stands at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria February 14, 2013. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Thursday, marking the 32nd anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) 

A Druze man uses binoculars as he looks towards Syria from part of an abandoned military outpost near the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights July 24, 2012. The Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles, Israeli defence officials said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to calm fears that a non-conventional war could be looming. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Lebanese Druze Sheikhs attend the funeral of Sheikh Abou Mohammad Jawad Walieddine, the highest spiritual authority for the Druze community in the Middle East, at his hometown in Baakline village, in the Chouf area, Mount Lebanon, April 28, 2012. Sheikh Walieddine died aged 96 early Friday morning. REUTERS/Mohamad Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: OBITUARY RELIGION) 

Lebanese Druze men mourn the death of Sheikh Abou Mohammad Jawad Walieddine, the head of the spiritual Druze council at his house at Baakline village, in the Chouf area, Mount Lebanon April 27, 2012. Sheikh Walieddine died aged 96 early Friday morning. His body is placed in a see-through glass coffin. REUTERS/Mohamad Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Druze clerics attend the funeral ceremony of top Druze cleric Sheikh Ahmed Salman al-Hajri in al-Suwayda city March 27, 2012. Hajri died in a car accident when the car he was travelling in collided with another car in southern Syria, on Saturday. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) 

A Druze woman kisses her son after he crossed through the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the 1973 Golan Heights ceasefire line with Syria March 26, 2012. The Israeli army said nearly a dozen members of the Druze community, including students from the Golan Heights who are studying in Syria crossed at Quneitra on Monday to visit their families for the school holidays. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) 

Members of the Druze community sit under Syrian flags during a rally in the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria, February 14, 2012. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Tuesday, marking the 31st anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) 

A Syrian flag is reflected on a man watching a rally through a window in the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, which stand at the heart of a long-standing conflict between Israel and Syria February 14, 2012. Hundreds of members of the Druze community took part in the rally on Tuesday, marking the 31st anniversary of Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Druze people attend a rally in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights October 7, 2011. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) 

Druze men and women stand inside a building under construction during a rally at the village of Majdel Shams in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel February 14, 2011, to mark the day Israel annexed the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Druze men speak during a rally at the village of Majdel Shams in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel February 14, 2011, to mark the day Israel annexed the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A Druze man poses for a photo as he takes part in a rally at the village of Majdel Shams in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel February 14, 2011, to mark the day Israel annexed the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Israeli Arab Druze and Druze from the Golan Heights attend a meeting with Lebanese Druze leaders Walid Jumblatt and Talal Arsalan in Damascus September 17, 2010. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS) 

Druze people gather to mark Syria's independence from France in 1946 at the village of Majdel Shams in Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel April 17, 2010. Syrian and Israeli forces last fought each other in Lebanon in the 1980s. A 1974 ceasefire has kept the front between the two quiet at Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Syrians who live on both sides of the border gathered today to celebrate the Syrian independence day with Syrian and Palestinian flags and photos of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Druze men gather to mark Syria's independence from France in 1946 at the village of Majdel Shams in Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel April 17, 2010. Syrian and Israeli forces last fought each other in Lebanon in the 1980s. A 1974 ceasefire has kept the front between the two quiet at Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Syrians on both sides of the border gathered today to celebrate the Syrian independence day with Syrian and Palestinian flags and photos of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A Druze boy carries a photo of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as he gathers with other Druzes to mark Syria's independence from France in 1946 at the village of Majdel Shams in Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel April 17, 2010. Syrian and Israeli forces last fought each other in Lebanon in the 1980s. A 1974 ceasefire has kept the front between the two quiet at Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Syrians who live on both sides of the border gathered today to celebrate the Syrian independence day with Syrian and Palestinian flags and photos of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) 

Boys dressed in soldiers' uniforms sit next to Druze men, as they mark Syria's independence from France in 1946 at the village of Majdel Shams in Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line between Syria and Israel April 17, 2010. Syrian and Israeli forces last fought each other in Lebanon in the 1980s. A 1974 ceasefire has kept the front between the two quiet at Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Syrians who live on both sides of the border gathered today to celebrate the Syrian independence day with Syrian and Palestinian flags and photos of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) 

A Lebanese Druze woman shows her ink-stained finger at a polling station in Aley in Mount Lebanon June 7, 2009. Lebanese voters cast ballots in a tightly contested general election on Sunday pitting a Western-backed coalition against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON POLITICS ELECTIONS) 

Israeli Druze women stand behind a voting booth at a polling station in the northern village of Yarka February 10, 2009. Israelis voted on Tuesday in a tight election race, with right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu bidding to oust the centrist party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL) 

Druze supporters carry the coffin of Saleh Aridi, a Druze politician who was killed in a car bomb explosion on Wednesday in Beisour village, east of Beirut September 12, 2008. A car bomb killed a senior activist of a Druze pro-Syrian Lebanese faction and wounded three others in a village east of Beirut, security sources said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON) 

A Druze sheikh walks past the site of a car bomb explosion that killed on Wednesday Saleh Aridi, a Druze politician, in Beisour village, east of Beirut September 11, 2008. The car bomb killed the senior activist of a Druze pro-Syrian Lebanese faction and wounded three others in the village, security sources said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON) 

Druze relatives mourn Saleh Aridi, a Druze politician who was killed in a car bomb on Wednesday in Beisour village, east of Beirut September 11, 2008. A car bomb killed the senior activist of a Druze pro-Syrian Lebanese faction and wounded three others in a village east of Beirut, security sources said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON) 

A United Nations bus carrying Syrian Druze villagers living under Israeli occupation in the Golan Heights drives through the Qunaitra crossing August 28, 2008. Israel allowed on Thursday hundreds of Golan residents to visit their relatives in Syria. Most of the 18,000 Syrians still living in the occupied Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, have refused Israeli citizenship. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) 

Syrian Druze villagers, living under Israeli occupation in the Golan Heights, walk through the Qunaitra crossing on the frontline August 28, 2008. Israel allowed on Thursday hundreds of Golan residents to visit their relatives in Syria. Most of the 18,000 Syrians still living in the occupied Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, have refused Israeli citizenship, according to officials. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) 

A Lebanese Druze priest walks in front of a burnt car in an area hit by recent clashes, in the Shwayfat area in Mount Lebanon near Beirut May 17, 2008. Lebanon's rival leaders held tense talks in Qatar on Saturday to try to end a political conflict that has pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war but face major hurdles. REUTERS/Steve Crisp (LEBANON) 

A Druze woman walks past a burnt car in a street after clashes in Shwayfat area in Mount Lebanon May 12, 2008. Hezbollah gunmen battled supporters of the government on Sunday on the fifth day of a campaign by the Iranian-backed group that has dealt a severe blow to Washington's allies in Lebanon. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON) 

A Syrian Druz cleric waits for his relatives to cross the Syrian-Israeli crossing point into Syria from the Israel-occupied Golan Heights for a four-day visit to the Arab state September 6, 2007. The 528 clerics crossing to the otherwise closed border was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Golan Heights was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. REUTERS /Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) 

Syrian Druz clerics wait for their relatives to cross the Syrian-Israeli crossing point into Syria from the Israel-occupied Golan Heights for a four-day visit to the Arab state September 6, 2007. The 528 clerics crossing to the otherwise closed border was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Golan Heights was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) 

A Syrian Druz cleric waits for his relatives to cross the Syrian-Israeli crossing point into Syria from the Israel-occupied Golan Heights for a four-day visit to the Arab state September 6, 2007. The 528 clerics crossing to the otherwise closed border was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Golan Heights was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) 

Lebanese police, army officers and civilians inspect a damaged building after an explosion in the Aley town east of Beirut May 23, 2007. An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded five people, security sources said. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON) 

Lebanese police, army officers and civilians inspect a damaged building after an explosion in the Aley town east of Beirut May 23, 2007. An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded five people, security sources said. REUTERS/Ibrahim Kareem (LEBANON) 

Israeli Druze Angelina Fares (C) attends the Miss Israel beauty pageant in the northern city of Haifa March 13, 2007. Doaa Fares, who changed her name to Angelina for the pageant, was the first-ever contestant from the Druze religion to enter the Miss Israel Pageant. Israeli police arrested several men who allegedly threatened to kill Fares if she were to participate in the event. She withdrew from the competition following the threats. Picture taken March 13, 2007. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen (ISRAEL) 

Israeli Druze Arwad Abu Shahin (2nd R), 25, is escorted by family members through the Kuneitra crossing on the Israel-Syria border March 12, 2007. Shahin, from the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, passed through the Kuneitra crossing from Israel into Syria after parting permanently from her family to wed her Syrian fiance. REUTERS/Sharon Perry (ISRAEL) 

Israeli Druze Arwad Abu Shahin, 25, looks at herself in the mirror after putting on her wedding dress in the northern Druze village of Madgel Shams March 12, 2007. Shahin, from the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights, passed through the Kuneitra crossing from Israel into Syria after parting permanently from her family to wed her Syrian fiancé. REUTERS/Sharon Perry (ISRAEL) 

Druse Arabs fill out forms to apply for permission to travel to Syria to attend the funeral of Hafaz al-Assad in the village of Massada located in the Golan Heights which was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War June 11. Israel reacted in conciliatrory terms to the death of long time foe, Hafez al-Assad saying it understood Syria's grief and pledged to try to forge peace with the Syrian leader's successor.

NB/ME