Israel’s military–political cooperation with the Syrian Kurds in 2011–2024

The first contacts between the Zionists and the Kurdish national movement took place before World War II. After the founding of the State of Israel, ties with Kurdish activists in Iraq, Syria, and later Iran became part of Israel’s “peripheral strategy” aimed at creating a system of alliances against Arab countries. Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the Israeli leadership repeatedly expressed support for the Kurdish minority living in that country, but did not actively intervene in the conflict. After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in December 2024, Israel has strengthened its military and political presence in Syria and has viewed the Syrian Kurds as potential partners in countering Turkey’s growing influence. Israel’s military and political leadership has been planning to create a system of alliances that would link the pro-Israeli Druze in southern Syria and the Kurdish-controlled areas in the north of the country into a single axis – the “David Corridor” (“Salah al-Din Corridor”). It is expected to counterbalance the pro-Turkish government in Damascus and give Israel access to the Kurdish autonomy in Northern Iraq.