Obama and Kerry probably don't like this, which makes me happy.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/6/state8152.htmIsrael's Netanyahu calls for supporting Iraqi Kurdish independence
Ekurd.net
June 30, 2014
JERUSALEM, Israel,— The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for Kurdish statehood on Sunday, taking a position that appeared to clash with the U.S. preference to keep sectarian war-torn Iraq united.
Netanyahu asked the international community on Sunday to support Jordan in the fight against "Islamic extremism" and to back the independence of Iraq's Kurds.
"We need to support efforts by the international community to strengthen Jordan and support the aspirations of the Kurds for independence," Netanyahu said in a speech to the Institute of National Security Studies think-tank in Tel Aviv.
His remarks follow reports in Israeli media that officials in Tel Aviv fear al-Qaeda linked Islamic-jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham ISIS may extend their control to areas of Jordan after seizing parts of Iraq in recent weeks.
The Kurds have seized on recent sectarian chaos in Iraq to expand their autonomous northern territory to include Kirkuk,www.Ekurd.net which sits on vast oil deposits that could make the independent state many dream of economically viable.
But Iraqi Kurds, who have ethnic compatriots in Iran, Turkey and Syria, have hesitated to declare full independence, one reason being the feared response of neighboring countries.
Kurds, Netanyahu said, "are a fighting people that has proved its political commitment, political moderation, and deserves political independence".
Kurdistan and Israel maintain quiet relations, with Israeli leaders often praising the Kurds, many of whom see the Jewish state as a model for their own future homeland.
Netanyahu called for independence for Iraq's Kurdistan region, where Kurdish Peshmerga security forces have mobilised in an unprecedented deployment to fight against ISIS.
"We must be able to stop the terrorism and fundamentalism that can reach us from the east at the Jordan line and not in the suburbs of Tel Aviv." Netanyahu added.
Israeli President Shimon Peres on June 25, 2014 told U.S. president Barack Obama to support the independent and democratic de-facto state of the Kurds. Peres told Obama, don’t try to save Iraq as a single political unit: It’s a lost cause, unless you or anyone else is willing to invest massive military forces, which you’re not.
Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an independent state -- its own constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, its own International airports, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors, a large number of foreign consulates and embassies are located in Kurdistan's capital, Erbil. So far 24 countries have opened consulates in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Iraqi Kurdistan does have a warmer history with the Jewish state, however. Many of the current crop of Kurdish leaders have visited Israel in past decades.
Jews lived in Kurdistan for centuries, working as traders, farmers and artisans.
But the creation of Israel and the rise of Arab nationalism in the mid-twentieth century dramatically altered the situation, spurring most of Kurdistan's Jews to leave.
Israel has a longstanding relationship with the Kurdish people. In the early 1960’s, Mustafa Barzani and his Peshmerga fighters received training and support in the Jewish State.
Massoud Barzani, the current president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq's north, has expressed his government’s positive feelings towards Israel and relations with the Jewish State. Similarly, Kurds elsewhere have attempted to establish channels of communications with Israel.