Expert says ties between Israel, Kurds "old"

The support expressed earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Kurdish statehood reflects his desire to bolster Israel's economic and security ties with the Kurds, an expert in Israeli affairs said Monday.

"This support is also an attempt by Netanyahu to deliver the message that Israel is able to play in the backyards of regional powerhouses Turkey and Iran," Wadie Abu Nassar, a former political science lecturer at the Open University of Israel, told Anadolu Agency.

In a Sunday speech at Tel Aviv University's INSS think tank, Netanyahu endorsed the independence of Iraqi Kurds.

"With respect to the Kurds, they are a nation of fighters who have proven they can be politically committed, and are worthy of statehood," he said.

Abu Nassar described relations between Israel and the Kurds as "old," adding that these relations were no secret.

He said that Netanyahu knew well that the interests of both Turkey and Iran would not be served by a strong Kurdish state on their borders.

"At the end of the day, the new Kurdish state will also demand the inclusion of other parts of Syria, Iran and Turkey," Abu Nassar said.

Abu Nassar is the head of the independent International Consultations Center in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

He said relations between Israel and the Kurds dated back to the 1950s, but added that they were largely undocumented.

He added that Israel had tried to cement its relations with Iran, Turkey and the Kurdish region in northern Iraq in the 1950s at a time when Kurds were looking for international support to establish their own state in northeastern Syria, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey.

"This attempt, however, did not succeed because Israel had its own calculations at the time," Abu Nassar said.

He said Israel was not ready to lock horns with either Turkey or Iran over the Kurdish issue.

He added that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had prevented Israel from forging a strong alliance with the Kurds.

"But after the 2003 U.S. occupation of Iraq, the Americans seemed to have indirectly contributed to strengthening relations between Israel and the Kurds of northern Iraq," Abu Nassar said.

"Since then, we have been hearing about commercial and security relations between Israel and the Kurdistan region," he added.

By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout

englishnews@aa.com.tr

www.aa.com.tr/en