Israel supports the independence of the Kurds in northern Iraq

Israel supports the independence of the Kurds in northern Iraq

 



Israel supports the independence of the Kurds of northern IrakEl Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, became the first international leader to publicly express their support for the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

"We support the aspiration of Kurdish independence. They deserve it, "said the chief executive in a lecture delivered at the Institute for National Security Studies at the University of Tel Aviv.

Israel maintains discrete commercial, military and intelligence ties with the Kurds, since the sixties.

The Kurds are a minority group, which maintains a prolonged tension against the domination of its neighbors - including Arabs -.

The Kurds have taken advantage of the recent chaos in Iraq and the religious war between Shia and Sunni to expand their autonomous territory in the north, including the city of Kirkuk, seated on huge oil reserves - that can help make the dream of a



economically viable independent state -.
Iraqi Kurds a mostly secular Indo-European ethnic group living in the mountains of Kurdistan, divided between Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, have hesitated to declare full independence for fear of the response of neighboring countries.

The Kurds are mostly Sunni; although a significant minority continues the tradition of regional yazidismo. The total population of this minority is estimated at between 30 and 38 million people.

Netanyahu also said that the current situation is an opportunity for increased regional cooperation, and that Israel should support international efforts to strengthen Jordan.

The prime minister was referring to the progress of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, for its acronym in English), an extremist Sunni insurgent group that has come to the gates of Baghdad and the Jordanian border, threatening to topple the regime Hashemite.

The Prime Minister said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel must keep military control of the Jordan River, and the evacuation of Israeli forces in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) will lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.