For all those doomsayers who forewarned that the Israel-Lebanon conflict was a precursor to an eventual religious war, here is an interesting antidote. The most successful Israeli Army battalion in the war against Hizbollah happened to be the Herev Battalion consisting of Druze soldiers. The Druze, mind you, are an off-shoot of the Ismaili Shiite Islam which originated from Egypt during the 11th century. More than 85,000 Druze Muslims constituting 1.8% of the population stay in Israel. While the Druze believe in the Quran, their faith in reincarnation has made them susceptible to severe religious persecutions.
The Herev battalion was so successful (fighting for 32 days without a single casualty while killing 20 Hizbollah fighters) that the Northern command of the Israeli Defense Forces contemplated converting it into an elite special unit like the Egoz or the Maglan. Perhaps, that would not be considered un-Islamic.