Yaacov Lappin
JNS, Dec. 16, 2024
“It’s a commitment of the international community towards those who fought bravely against ISIS. It’s also a commitment for the future of Syria, because the Kurds are a stabilizing force in this country.”
Intensified assaults on Kurdish-held regions in northeast Syria in recent days by a Turkish-backed umbrella group of factions are a threat to Israeli security interests, according to Israeli observers.
Recent gains by the Kurds following the collapse of Syria’s Tehran-backed Assad regime have placed them in control of a key region used by Iran for many years to smuggle arms via neighboring Iraq.
According to senior research scholar Ely Karmon of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya, these developments should prompt the United States and Israel into looking at options for providing military assistance to the Kurds, in the form of arms and training.
“For this to happen, [U.S. President-elect Donald] Trump must be persuaded that the vital thing to do in the war against Islamic State and against Iran is to recruit the Kurds in Syria, Iraq and Iran to the mission,” said Karmon. . ….SOURCE