Israel’s Druze are estimated at some 120,000 people
A second Druze officer on Tuesday quit the Israeli military in protest of a recently passed law that recognizes Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”.
“I have been serving in the IDF (army) for almost five years,” Zidan Shadi wrote on his Facebook page. “Today, I’m a deputy commander in a combat battalion and I have served in all over the country.”
“Until this day, I have given the state my soul, I have risked my life. Until this day I stood by the state’s flag,” he said. “But today, I refused for the first time in my service to salute the flag; I refused for the first time to sing the national anthem.”
The army officer said he felt he was a second-class citizen in Israel after the approval of the “Nation-State” law.
“I have decided to stop serving this country. Thank you State of Israel!" he said.
On Sunday, Druze officer Capt. Amir Jmall announced his resignation from the Israeli army in protest of the controversial law.
The legislation, approved last week by the Knesset (Israel's parliament), has angered Israel’s sizeable Druze community, members of which have long served in Israel’s military.
An Arabic-speaking ethnic group which adheres to its own monotheistic faith, Israel’s Druze -- estimated at some 120,000 people -- are concentrated largely in the country’s northern regions.
Unlike Israel’s Arab Muslim and Christian minorities, Druze men typically serve in the Israeli military and generally consider themselves loyal citizens of the state.
