Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loves the Kurds, at least from afar. On Oct. 10, 2019, he issued a statement declaring: “Israel strongly condemns the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria and warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies. Israel is prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to the gallant Kurdish people.”

Kurds would be right to question Netanyhu’s virtue signaling. After all, Netanyahu was prime minster in 1999 when Israeli intelligence allegedly helped tip off their Turkish counterparts to the presence of Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Öcalan in Nairobi. Turkish forces seized Öcalan, ultimately returning him to Turkey where he has been imprisoned ever since.