MESOP : ISRAEL’S RECENT STRATEGIC ENTHUSIASM FOR KURDISTAN

The Kurdish Awakening & the Implications for Israel

Strategic Assessment, Volume 17, No. 1, April 2014 / By Gallia Lindenstrauss , Oded Eran

The article surveys the awakening among the Kurds in northern Iraq and northern Syria in recent years. It examines the degree of autonomy that the Kurds have achieved in these countries, the chances of their maintaining this autonomy, and the question of whether these entities will declare their independence. While Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq has already existed for more than two decades, the autonomous entity in Syria is new, and has yet to win any international recognition. For its part, Israel should tighten relations with the Kurdish minority in these countries, and encourage the US to show sympathy for the idea of Kurdish independence. An independent Kurdish state in the region will almost certainly be friendly to Israel; if such an entity does declare its independence, Israel should therefore be among the first countries to recognize it.  Watch full pdf text http://www.inss.org.il/index.aspx?id=4538&articleid=6966