From the establishment of Israel, their relations with peoples without a state in the Middle East are complex, but few are as relevant as the Kurds. Unlike its Arab neighbors, Israel sees in the Kurds a potential allied in a region dominated by hostile regimes. In the seventies, Israel already supported Kurdish insurgences in Iraq, understanding that a strong Kurdistan is as a counterweight to Arab dictatorships. Today, the situation evolved, but the dynamics is the same: the Kurdish fight represents for Israel an opportunity to weaken its enemies, particularly Turkey and Iran.
But who are the Kurds? For many in the West, they are an almost unknown town, although their history goes back thousands of years. They are an ethnic group of Indo -European origin that lives a mountainous region distributed between Türkiye, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Despite having a strong cultural identity and their own language, Kurdish, they never had an independent state. His language has several dialects, being the main Kurmanji and Sorani, and although they received influences from their Arab and Persian neighbors, they maintained their own culture with strong tribal traditions and a very deep -rooted community.
As for religion, most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but there is a Shiite minority and, above all, groups that practice their own religions such as yezidism and zoroastrismo. This, the difference from the predominant Islam in the region. This religious diversity generated distrust and persecutions of regional powers throughout history, accusing them of being “heretics” or not fitting in the national identity of the states in which they live.
After World War I, when the Ottoman Empire crumbled, the Kurds were close to obtaining their own country. The Treaty of Sèvres, signed in 1920, provided for the creation of an independent Kurdistan. However, three years later, the Treaty of Lausana annulled that promise, leaving the Kurds divided into several countries without autonomy rights. Since then, they are persecuted and oppressed in all states where they live, especially in Türkiye, where their identity was systematically repressed. Speaking Kurdo was illegal for decades, and any attempt at political organization has been hard.
Currently, Türkiye is the country that most fights the Kurds, seeing in them a threat to their territorial unit. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Marxistaleninist organization founded in 1978 leads the armed struggle against the Turkish government with the aim of creating an independent Kurdistan. In response, Ankara represses and labels any Kurdish movement as terrorism. And uses the Kurdish issue to consolidate its political power. Erdogan, in particular, manipulates the figure of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the PKK, to weaken the independence movement, forcing him to ask for the dissolution of the group.
As I mentioned in another article about Rojava, one of the most interesting political experiences in the Kurdish world is the autonomous administration in the northeast of Syria. Known as Rojava, this region implemented a model of self -government based on direct democracy, gender equality and ecology. There, women play a fundamental role in politics and self -defense forces, creating a unique society in the Middle East. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), mostly Kurdas, are the military arm of this administration, resist the offensive of Islamist groups and Türkiye’s attempts to end their autonomy. For Israel, Rojava’s survival is key, since it represents a model opposed to radical Islamism that Ankara drives in the region.
In 2024, Netanyahu spoke at the UN about the relevance of the Kurds in the new order of Middle East. In Syria, SDF emerge as the only faction with a stable and democratic government model, facing Islamist groups supported by Türkiye. Israel strengthens ties with them and other minorities such as the Druzos, understanding that the fall of the Kurds would be a victory for their enemies, particularly for Türkiye and Iran.
Erdogan fears that an alliance between Israel and the Kurds strengthen the position of the latter in the Middle East, challenging Turkish hegemony. Türkiye promotes disarmament Kurdish initiatives, but not for a real desire for peace, but to prevent them from becoming a determining force in the reconfiguration of the region. In turn, Iran, weakened by the war with Israel and the loss of influence of Hezbollah, will intensify his repression against the Kurds within his borders, fearful of becoming a new focus of instability.
The future of Kurdistan is uncertain. The viability of a Kurdish state will depend on whether Israel and other allies can sustain them in front of the opposition of Türkiye and Iran. Meanwhile, Hamas offensive of October 7, 2024 accelerated geopolitical changes. On this new board, the alliance between Israel and the Kurds will be one of the keys to the future of the Middle East.
Things as they are
Mookie Tenembaum addresses international issues like this every week with Horacio Cabak in his podcast the international observer, available in Spotify, Apple, YouTube and all platforms.
