If there is a Nobel Prize for Absolute Bluntness, there would be no beating President Donald Trump to it. In the Middle East, it is a fact that the Kurds are a people who have fared badly at the hands of their Arab and non-Arab compatriots; the Kurds are dispersed far afield in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran where they have become veritable second-rate citizens. Interestingly, the Kurds hold Israel and the Jews in high esteem. If there were a Kurdistan Republic today, Israel would have a great ally and a stronger foothold in the Middle East. Now, enters Jared Kushner, the most powerful Jew alive today (Mr. Kushner is the son-in-law of President Donald Trump); credit to young Kushner for the Trump Jerusalem Declaration.

 Kushner can go further to press for a Kurdistan Republic so as to further strengthen Israel’s interests. We are witnessing what looks like that “pressing” in the creation of a Border Defence Force, under the auspices of the United States, that would be made up of predominantly ethnic Kurds just inside the buffer zone between Syria and Turkey.

The former anti-ISIS militia would be turned into a standing army that will control a huge chunk of territory favourable to the Kurds. This action is just the right precipitation for the nucleus of a future Kurdistan Republic and, expectedly, Turkey has blasted this move by the Trump administration.