Ilham Ahmed, the co-chair of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), called for Israel to play a central role in the Middle East, particularly regarding its involvement in Syria.
The head of the US-backed militia claimed that Israel, which is facing accusations of genocide over its actions in Gaza, would play a key role in a peace process in the Middle East.
“The crisis of the Middle East requires that everyone understand that without Israel and Jewish people playing a role, a democratic solution for the region will not happen,” she said speaking to Israeli media.
“The security of the border areas in Syria requires everyone to be engaged in the solution, and Israel is one of the parties to that. Its role is going to be very important, so having the discussion with Israel at this time is very important.”
Ilham, who is a leading figure in the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), also called for Hayat Tahrir al-Shaam to remain on the terrorism list and claimed that international sanctions against Syria should remain in place.
The AANES, led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), controls over 30 per cent of Syrian territory, including strategic oil fields, agricultural land, and key water resources.
The comments come after Israel was reportedly planning to divide Syria into autonomous cantons, under the pretext of “safeguarding” the rights of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.
She added: “Removing HTS from the terror list and removing the sanctions from Syria will lead to two things: HTS will take the whole rule of Syria and create their own system, and they will not give others any role and will not change their ideology.”
Her comments have been widely criticised among Syrians, who have slammed the Kurdish leader for supporting Israel.
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa previously claimed his transitional government is open to negotiation with the country’s Kurdish population and does not want conflict with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In January, he vowed to negotiate with the Kurdish-led militias, claiming that “our goal is to find a middle ground”, and acknowledged that “the Kurdish people in that region did not even have citizenship rights in the past. Many injustices were committed in the past, especially during Bashar al-Assad’s former regime”.
In recent months, Israeli officials have voiced support for the PKK/YPG seeing them as potential allies against Iran and Turkey. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar recently suggested that the groups could be a “natural ally”, positioning them as victims of Iranian and Turkish aggression.
Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government has already expressed concerns over Israeli involvement, warning that such a move could expose Syrian Kurds to backlash from neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, which has listed the PKK/YPG as a terrorist organisation.
