When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, no one was more outspokenly friendly toward the occupiers than Sheik Kamal Kanj. A leader of the Druse, an esoteric sect that broke away from Islam in the 11th century, and a former member of the Syrian Parliament, Kanj had Israel's Deputy Premier Yigal Allon as an overnight guest in his home in the village of Majdal Shams. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan once dined with Kanj in the village. Kanj was so intent on maintaining good relations with Israel that when younger...
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