Kurds in Syria are working to sell oil to Israel, a report Monday in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar claimed.
The newspaper said its report was based on leaked documents it attained.
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The Al-Akhbar report further claims that Israel-born businessman Moti Kahana was appointed by the Syrian Democratic Council – the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is a Kurdish umbrella group based in northern Syria – to facilitate the sale to Israel of crude oil produced in oil fields controlled by the Kurds in eastern Syrial.
Kahana, founder of the Amaliah aid foundation to help Syrian victims of the Assad regime in the country's civil war, was described by Al-Akhbar as someone who has helped smuggle Jews out of Syria; a pro-Israel lobbyist in Washington; and a "collaborator for the Israeli Air Force."
US President Donald Trump has accused the Kurds in Syria, his country's main ally in the war against the Islamic State group, of selling oil to Iran. The Kurds don't deny the claim but say that because the border with Turkey is sealed to them, their only other option is to sell oil to Iraqi Kurdistan and from there to Iran.
Kahana adamantly denies he has worked to facilitate the sale of Kurdish oil to Israel, but said he has indeed tried to end the oil sales to Iran. On his Facebook page, Kahana wrote that he opposes the Iranian presence in Syria, which he says belongs to the Syrian people.
"It's important for me to explain that I do not serve any side in this story because I have one goal – for Syria to be democratic, free and live in good neighborliness with Israel. I don't serve Israel, I am an American citizen, but everyone can benefit from this," Kahana told Israel Hayom.
"The Kurds currently hold 11 oil wells in an area controlled by the [Syrian] Democratic Forces. The overwhelming majority of Syrian oil is in that area. I don't want this oil reaching Iran, or the Assad regime. I want Assad to bike to work," he explains.
Kahana continued to lay out his vision: "The moment the Trump administration gives its approval, we can begin to export this oil at fair prices, and to use it to build and defend democratic Syria, push Iran and ISIS out of the country and usher in progress and democracy."
The Kurds, as stated, control an area with vast amounts of oil, and experts believe the potential for production, despite the damage to the facilities caused by ISIS before they were liberated by the Kurds, is nearly half a million barrels of oil per day.
