Druze leaders in Israel (file)
Druze leaders in Israel (file)Flash 90

The Druze community in Israel has reached out to the US this week, begging Washington to protect Druze across the border in Syria. 

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro met with Druze community leaders Thursday, according to Channel 2, during which community leaders begged Shapiro to get the US more involved in the fighting between rebel forces and the regime army of President Bashar Al-Assad. 

The most threatened area for the Druze is now Jabal al-Arab, a mountainous region in southern Syria where five Druze were killed in clashes with Islamic State (ISIS) several days ago. Druze leaders argue that their friends across the border have no means of self-protection after Assad's army moved into the area. 

In addition, Israel's Druze community is seeking military aid on a larger scale from Washington, requesting air strikes to prevent terrorists from approaching Druze population centers. 

Druze leaders have reportedly made similar requests to Israeli security sources. 

Although most of the Druze community in general lives a few dozen kilometers from the border of the Golan Heights - i.e. in Syria, not in Israel - Druze leaders demand Israeli intervention as part of the cooperation agreement that exists in Israel between the Druze and the state. 

Israel has, by and large, struggled to remain neutral throughout the Syrian civil war, but analysts have suggested that it secretly supports Syrian rebels to limit Hezbollah's power along the Golan Heights border.