Druze army general leads protests to overturn nation-state law that makes explicit the privileged status of Jewish majority<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s small Druze community, long seen as \u201cloyal\u201d to the state, is on a collision course with the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu over a new law guaranteeing superior citizenship rights for Jews, according to analysts.<\/p>\n
Israel has traditionally cited the Druze, a secretive religious sect whose men serve in the Israeli army, as proof that non-Jews can prosper inside a self-declared Jewish state.<\/p>\n
However, recent days have seen an unprecedented outpouring of anger from large segments of the Druze community over a nation-state law passed last month by the Israeli parliament.<\/p>\n
The new legislation has been widely criticised for making explicit the privileged status of the Jewish majority while omitting any reference to \u201cdemocracy\u201d or \u201cequality\u201d.<\/p>\n
One Druze scholar, Rabah Halabi, said his community\u2019s response had been like a mini-\u201cintifada\u201d \u2013 the word Palestinians used for two lengthy uprisings against the occupation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of the Druze community are in a state of shock,\u201d he told Middle East Eye<\/em>. \u201cThey thought that by proving their loyalty, they would be treated as equals. But now they are being forced to re-evaluate, to accept that this view was mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n Halabi, who has written a book on Druze identity, added: \u201cTheir illusions are being shattered. It looks like a process of awakening has begun that will…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n