US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Friday, hours after Turkey agreed with the United States to pause its offensive on Kurdish forces in Syria, Reuters reports.
פגישה חשובה עם מזכיר המדינה של ארה״ב מייק פומפאו – על חיזוק הברית בינינו ועל האתגרים הביטחוניים הרבים שאיתם אנחנו מתמודדים באזור.
Posted by Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו on Friday, October 18, 2019
Turkey launched its assault against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria last week after President Donald Trump pulled a U.S. contingent out of the way, creating a new front in Syria’s eight-year war and prompting 200,000 civilians to take flight.
Israel sees Syria’s Kurds, once US allies, as a counterweight to Islamist insurgents in northern Syria.
#Pompeo lands in Israel to discuss 'regional developments and threats' with #Netanyahuhttps://t.co/jS6hzmF3gc
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) October 18, 2019
It worries militants aligned with its arch-foe Iran could fill the vacuum left by a disengaged United States.
The Kurds responded to the US withdrawal by inviting Syrian government forces, backed by Moscow and Tehran, into towns and cities in areas they control.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
