KAIS M. FIRRO, The Druzes in the Jewish State: A Brief History (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne: E. J. Brill, 1999). Pp. 274.

Abstract

This well-researched book is a welcome contribution to the study of the Druzes, one of the most under-studied religious groups in the Middle East. The main objective of this book is to trace the historical development of the Druzes in Israel since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 to the present, and to show that Druze ethnicity was and still is an instrument in the hands of the Israeli government officials and the Druze elite. This book also attempts to show how the Zionists used Druze ethnicity and ethnic issues to pursue their policy aims of alienating the Druzes from other Arabs. In this work, the author, a professor at the University of Haifa, revisits an area he knows well and has already presented in a previous book, A History of the Druzes.