In an October 24 tweet, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz challenged U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres about his silence toward Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish towns, villages, and economic infrastructure in Iraq and Syria. He asked rhetorically where were the urgent United Nations Security Council action and International Criminal Court complaint against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Katz is right to question the hypocrisy of leaders who jump on allegations of Palestinian genocide but ignore a far longer and deadlier campaign against the region’s Kurds. The question remains whether Katz simply wishes to use Kurds as rhetorical foil or if he is serious about advancing Kurdish rights on the world stage.
Israel may be winning its current wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, but at tremendous cost to its economy. While the Abraham Accords have formalized peace with some Arab states, Israel still needs reliable, strategic partners. An independent Kurdistan could be a natural ally given the similar experiences of Jews and Kurds at the hands of Arabs, Persians and Turks.
To show Israel is serious, Katz should present a draft proposal at the U.N. General Assembly advocating for recognizing the Kurds’ plight and seeking non-member observer status for both the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, much as the U.N. General Assembly granted the Palestinians in 2012. Israel might also file cases against Iran and Turkey in the International Court of Justice, invoking the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
While realistically, Israel will not initially succeed—the biases against the Jewish state and the Kurds run too deep—starting the conversation would advance Kurdish rights, expose the hypocrisy of European Union members and various human rights forums, and counterbalance the influence of Iranian and Turkish lobbying.
To be effective, though, Israel’s support must be real and consistent, not simply the subject of occasional tweets. The Kurds need genuine allies who will advance their cause beyond rhetoric; Israel needs partners of both the heart and the mind. Israelis and the Kurds are the only peoples in the Middle East who consistently resist extremism and share a commitment to liberal values and social freedoms. Israel’s support for Kurdish self-determination represents not only a strategic advantage but also a commitment to justice. With the right diplomatic, legal, and international initiatives, Israel can help give the Kurds a voice on the global stage, forging a new alliance that benefits both nations in a region that remains fraught with instability.
