Israel is assisting Syrian
Kurds battered by a month-old
Turkish incursion, seeing them as a counterweight to Iranian influence and advocating for them in talks with the
United States, the deputy
Israeli foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Ankara launched its assault targeting the Kurdish YPG militia after the abrupt withdrawal of 1,000 U.S. troops from northern
Syria in early October, a move Kurds deemed a betrayal by
Washington, their partner in fighting Islamic State.
In a rare public dissent with U.S. President
Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu offered humanitarian aid to the "gallant Kurdish people" on Oct. 10, saying they faced possible "ethnic cleansing" by
Turkey and its Syrian allies.