Israeli Druze Takes Up No. 2 Spot in Philly

The fact that his boss has created such a flap in the international arena -- branded by some as a racist -- doesn't seem to bother Raslan Abu Rukun, the first non-Jewish Israeli diplomat to be stationed here.

"I feel very proud to represent Israel and to live in Israel as a Jewish state," said Abu Rukun, a member of Israel's Druze community.

"From my point of view," the new deputy consul general said in an interview, "I think that all citizens should be loyal to their country and to the state."

He downplayed the position of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, noting that they were made while Lieberman was a political candidate.

"I don't want to get into internal Israeli politics," he responded.

The 33-year-old father of two added that in a country governed by Jewish values, he has received opportunities that would not have been possible in Israel's nondemocratic neighboring states.

The diplomat, who could easily be mistaken for an Israeli Jew, is the second-ranking official in the office under Consul General Daniel Kutner. He is a native of Osfia, a town outside Haifa where Druze comprise about 80 percent of the population.

Kutner noted that for several decades, it was rare to find a woman occupying a top diplomatic post, let alone a religious minority. But things have changed, and Druze, as well as Arab Christians and Muslims, have now served in embassies and consulates around the world.

Initially considered a breakaway sect of Islam, the Druze religion over the centuries has developed its own set of customs and beliefs, many of which remain shrouded in mystery.

"The Druze religion is considered a secret religion -- not only a secret for outsiders, but secret for secular Druze, like me," said Abu Rukun. "If you want to study the religion, you have to be a religious person."

Roughly 150,000 Druze reside in Israel in a network of towns and villages spread throughout the Galilee, where Druze typically hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the army, as well as in the Golan Heights, where for a variety of reasons they generally do not.

Abu Rukun pointed out that Druze have served in the Israeli military since before the establishment of the state, and that friends and family have voiced overwhelming support for his career choice.

By and large, the Druze community enjoys better relations with the Jewish state than do Israeli Muslims, who have often claimed that they are treated as second-class citizens.

First Stop: Nepal
Abu Rukun joined the foreign ministry in 2006.

The next year, he was sent to work in the embassy in Katmandu, Nepal, where he said life was sometimes difficult and power failures were frequent.

At the time, Nepal was transitioning from a monarchy to a democracy, and there was little focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The embassy spent most of its time dealing with the 10,000 or so Israeli tourists who visit Nepal annually.

In requesting an assignment in the United States -- a country he had never visited -- Abu Rukun acknowledged that he was partially motivated by improving living conditions for his family, but he also wanted to serve in a place where discourse helps shape policy and events in the Middle East.

He has embarked on his tenure at a time of tension between the two countries. As it happens, his actual starting date coincided with President Barack Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo, which rankled some supporters of Israel by suggesting that the country's right to exist was based on the Holocaust -- not on the land being the Jewish people's historic homeland.

His response to this fact was, of course, rather diplomatic.

"First of all, as an Israeli, I wish [President Obama] all the best in achieving his goals, which is, finally, a peace agreement," said Abu Rukun. "I appreciate his efforts, and the efforts of the American administration to bring peace in the Middle East."