(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 26 - Interior minister Ayelet Shaked announced today that in the near future the status of the municipal council of Mughar, in Galilee, will be elevated to that of a "city". "This will be Israel's first city to drive," Shaked said while meeting with the head of the municipal council, Farid Ghanem.
Currently Mughar (pronounced: 'Mrar') has 24,000 inhabitants, but government projects, Shaked said, predict that its population will grow to 30,000 in the future. "This is further proof - said Shaked - of the close bond created in Israel between Druze and Jews".
In Mughar there is also a strong minority of Muslims (including the political leader of the Islamic Movement Ra'am, MansurAbbas) and Christians.
Overall, Muslims and Christians make up over 40 percent of the current population.
According to some local observers, Mughar's definition of "city drusa" therefore risks triggering friction between two communities.
(ANSAmed).
