In the Middle East chessboard, Israel’s long-standing ties with the Kurds form one of the region’s most sensitive and strategically charged relationships.
For Israel, the Kurds have long been viewed as a natural partner inside a hostile Muslim environment: a non-Arab, stateless people with overlapping security interests against shared adversaries. For Turkey, however, this relationship is a red flag, stirring deep anxiety over strategic encirclement.
1. THE PERIPHERY DOCTRINE: AN ALLIANCE OF THE MARGINALIZED
Since the 1960s, Israel has cultivated discreet ties with Kurdish actors—primarily in Iraq—as part of its “Periphery Doctrine.” The idea was to offset Arab hostility by forming alliances with non-Arab states and minorities. Within this framework, Israel provided humanitarian assistance, military training, and intelligence guidance, seeing the Kurds as a counterweight to regimes in Baghdad and Damascus.
