
According to new research from Mizan – Druze Generation for Equality, only 50% of the residents of Israel’s Druze towns have access to either a reinforced security room in their home or a public shelter. That was an especially acute problem during the recent war with Iran, but it’s also a symptom of a larger systemic problem.
Citing data from the Home Front Command, the organization found that only six out of 20 Druze localities have public shelters. Three large Druze towns—Maghar, Daliyat al-Karmel, and Isfiya—have no public shelters at all. In Ein al-Asad and Shefa-Amr, there are no mobile shelters either.
Israel’s 140,000 or so Druze citizens live mostly in the north of Israel. Most construction in Druze towns is older and predates the legal requirement to include a reinforced security room in residential buildings. The lack of an updated and detailed zoning plan in Druze localities makes it difficult to obtain new building permits, and as a result, most new construction does not feature reinforced security rooms.
According to Mizan, the regulations and laws meant to expedite the construction of security rooms are not applicable to these communities due to the absence of basic necessary conditions. Additionally, the mountainous topography of most Druze localities increases construction costs and makes building reinforced rooms a significant financial burden on households.
Mizan, with the backing of 11 Druze local council heads from the Carmel, Galilee, and Golan regions, sent an urgent letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, the commander of the Home Front Command, and the Ministry of Justice, calling for immediate action to deploy protective infrastructure and implement on-the-ground solutions.
“There is no greater moral injustice than a reality in which a Druze soldier is sent to risk his life for the state—while his family remains exposed and unprotected in the village,” the letter stated. “This is not only an unimaginable reality; it is a national disgrace that requires the state to act immediately.”
At the same time, Mizan is working to establish a database and map of public shelters and mobile protection units in Druze towns. As part of the Emergency Mutual Aid Network initiated by the movement, connections have been created between families without proper protection and host families that do have protective spaces.