Where does Israel stand with regard to the terrorist YPG group

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said admitted that country is assisting the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist organisation.

Hotovely told parliamentarians on Wednesday that an offer of help had been taken up by the YPG terrorist. 

“Israel has received many requests for assistance, mainly in the diplomatic and humanitarian realm,” she said. “We identify with the deep distress of the (YPG), and we are assisting them through a range of channels.” 

Hotovely said: “Israel indeed has a salient interest in preserving the strength of the Kurds and the additional minorities in the north Syria area as moderate and pro-Western elements.

“The possible collapse of the Kurdish hold in northern Syria is a negative and dangerous scenario as far as Israel is concerned. It is absolutely clear that such an event would bring about a bolstering of negative elements in the area, headed by Iran.”

After Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on October 9 to clear its border of terrorists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered aid to the group and praised them as “gallant”.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from northern Syria was a rare example of Israel and Washington diverging with regards to foreign policy.

The PKK, which is the YPG’s parent organisation, is proscribed as a terrorist group by the EU, US, and Turkey.

It is responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people in Turkey, including women and children.

Why does Israel support YPG and PKK?

Can Acun, a foreign policy researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), told TRT World that Israel was looking out for its own interests through the weakening of neighbouring states, with which it has hostile relations.

“In both Syria and Iraq, Israel supports secessionist movements that can break the territorial integrity of those states,” making reference to both the YPG’s seizure of Syrian sovereign territory and the attempt by some unaffiliated Kurdish groups in Iraq to declare a breakaway state in Iraq in 2017.

He explained that by forming close ties with groups like the YPG, Israel hope to keep rivals- including Turkey-  in check.