JNS.org – During the last several years, Israel has witnessed the crumbling of the Middle East, as civil wars, internal strife and Islamic extremism have taken hold throughout the region. As the Jewish state’s foes and allies alike face ongoing strife, the Kurdish people of northern Iraq have emerged as a striking source of stability, and have shown a willingness to confront radical Islam.

A century after being denied statehood by European powers after the Ottoman Empire fell, the Iraqi Kurds are slated to hold a referendum on independence on September 25. For Israel — which has long courted support from the Kurds, most of whom are Sunni Muslims — an independent Kurdistan may prove to be a new and unexpected ally in the fight against Islamic extremism.

During a recent meeting with a visiting delegation of 33 Republican members of the US Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “positive attitude” toward an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, saying that the Kurds are a “brave, pro-Western people who share our values,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

For Israel, the Kurdish referendum comes amid increased fears over Iran’s growing inroads in the region, especially in Syria and Iraq, and — to a lesser extent — in Yemen. It was recently reported that Iran is building a facility in northwestern Syria to manufacture long-range Scud missiles, while Iranian-backed militias have been deployed in Iraq (allegedly to fight ISIS).

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“Our policy is clear: We vehemently oppose the military buildup by Iran and its proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in Syria, and we will do whatever it takes to protect Israel’s security,” Netanyahu recently said.

Professor Ofra Bengio, head of the Kurdish Studies Program at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told JNS.org that an independent Kurdistan “is likely to be more stable, tolerant, pro-Western and secular than its other neighbors — values that can be good glue for relations with Israel.”

Both Kurdistan and Israel would have “common strategic interests” in countering radical Islam of both the Sunni and Shia persuasion, such as from ISIS and Iran, said Bengio. She is the author of the 2012 book, The Kurds of Iraq: Building a State within a State.

“As brave fighters, the Kurdish Peshmerga [forces] have already proved their mettle in such encounters, so they are likely to help contain such radicals in the future as well,” she said.