Druze leaders say they need more time to examine a proposal that would see their community's status anchored in Israeli law.
Community leaders met for a second time Wednesday evening with a special team headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the compromise deal. During their meeting, an agreement was reached for the regulation of the legal status of members of minority community members who serve in the Israeli security forces, in particular the Druze community.
The proposal is Netanyahu's response to criticism that the recently enacted nation-state law, which defines Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, discriminates against the Druze.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, those attending Wednesday's meeting, which was chaired by PMO Director General Yoav Hurvitz, included Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tariff, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, Druze Yisrael Beytenu MK Hamad Amar, former Independence MK Shachiv Shnaan, local Druze council heads and the forum of senior IDF reserve officers.
A planned demonstration by the Druze on Saturday evening, which it was believed would likely be canceled given the overall positive response to the compromise offer, was set to go on as scheduled, community representatives said.
Tariff said he thought the compromise was a "good, historic and very important offer, to anchor the status of the Druze society in a Basic Law in the Knesset, and an additional two laws that were amended for all the rights and everything related to the problems of the Druze community.
"I think the offer is a good offer. We are now going back north, going back to sit with the local mayors, with senior [IDF] officers and with community leaders, and we will of course decide together and we will get back to the prime minster. I truly hope the decision will be positive and good for all of us."
According to the PMO's website, the proposed compromise would anchor in law the status of the Druze and Circassian communities. The law will honor the Druze community's contribution to the state and will include support for the community's religious, cultural and educational institutions and solutions for residential construction and the establishment of new Druze communities as necessary, as well as the preservation of the Druze heritage.
It would also anchor in law the eligibility for benefits of minority community members – of all faiths and communities – who serve in the security forces, with the aim of achieving social equality.
The compromise will also anchor in a Basic Law recognition of the contribution of all those faiths and communities, including the Druze, who help defend the state.
PMO Deputy Director General Ehud Praver also announced the establishment of a ministerial committee, to be chaired by Netanyahu, to advance the compromise and oversee its implementation.
In a post to Facebook earlier Wednesday, Kara responded to calls for him to resign as communications minister in response to the enactment of the nation-state law.
He said Netanyahu was the first prime minister to appoint a member of the Druze community to a central ministerial position and said that "under this government, the Druze in Israel have earned recognition and sympathy and senior appointments, both in the public and military sectors – more than ever before."
Kara said he was working day and night on the "good and historic program that will benefit the community and serve it well."
