Israel endorses independent Kurdish state
Iraqi Kurds are preparing to vote in a referendum on independence

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed the creation of an independent Kurdish state, as Iraqi Kurds prepare for a referendum on independence.
Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel still considers the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a terrorist group but “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state”.
“Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s,” says Reuters, “viewing the minority ethnic group - whose indigenous population is split between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran - as a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is not the first time Netanyahu has voiced support for an independent Kurdish state - he backed the Kurds’ “aspirations for independence” in a speech in 2014. However, his latest intervention comes at a sensitive time in the region. On Tuesday, the leader of Iraq’s Kurds, Massoud Barzani, said he would press ahead with the 25 September referendum despite a vote by Iraq’s parliament rejecting it.
“His endorsement also clashes with both the US and Turkish positions,” says Bloomberg. The Turkish government, which has recently restored diplomatic ties with Israel following years of estrangement, “is concerned that sovereignty for Iraqi Kurds would encourage its own Kurdish insurgents”, says the news agency, while the US believes a Kurdish vote “could destabilize the region and undercut the war on extremism”.
There are fears a highly public vote for independence could detract attention from the war against Islamic State and stir up hostilities between the Iraqi government and Kurdish separatists.
Netanyahu’s endorsement “will cut little ice in Baghdad”, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has strong ties with Israel’s arch-foe Iran, says Reuters.
The goal of an independent state has been the dream of many Kurds since the end of the First World War, when colonial powers carved up the Ottoman Empire.
Iraqi Kurdistan has effectively been a semi-autonomous state since the fall of Saddam Hussein more than a decade ago, but support for full independence has long been opposed by Turkey, Iran and Syria, who fear it could fan separatist uprisings among their own ethnic Kurds.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel: a foodie haven in Portugal's Douro Valley
The Week Recommends Luxury city hotel with food from a Michelin-starred chef – and plenty of port
-
A zombie volcano is coming back to life, but there is no need to worry just yet
Under the radar Uturuncu's seismic activity is the result of a hydrothermal system
-
Crossword: May 12, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza
In Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
Can the world stop Israel from starving Gaza?
Today's Big Question Total blockade on food and aid enters its third month, and Israel is accused of 'weaponising starvation'
-
Israel approves plan to take over Gaza indefinitely
speed read Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is 'on the eve of a forceful entry'
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Israel launches air strike on Beirut suburbs
Speed Read The attack targeting Hezbollah was Israel's third on the Lebanese capital since November's ceasefire
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medics
speed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Gaza: the killing of the paramedics
In the Spotlight IDF attack on ambulance convoy a reminder that it is 'still possible to be shocked by events in Gaza'