Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel and the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s 1981 annexation of the area is recognized only by the United States, with the rest of the world considering it occupied Syrian territory.

A delegation of Druze religious elders from Syria crossed into Israel on Friday for the first such visit in more than 50 years, underscoring Israel's backing for the community amid growing tensions with the new government in Damascus.