While much of the Arab world condemns Israel following Oct. 7, there’s an auspicious alliance waiting to be fostered – with the Kurdish people.
Yehuda Ben-Yosef, president of the Israeli Kurdish Community, chairman of the Israel-Kurdistan Friendship Association, and promoter of Kurdish culture (poetry, folk song, and dance), is this alliance’s most outspoken advocate, recognizing common adversaries and shared values.
“I want a united Jerusalem,” he declares regarding his candidacy in the upcoming municipal elections. Ben-Yosef is head of the Jerusalem Will Succeed list – with a woman as his No. 2, we are glad to hear.
We have a long, lively conversation over a dinner fit for a carnivorous king at Joy Bistro in Mamilla – an area that, pre-1967, was home to many Kurdish families.
But Ben-Yosef really wants to discuss why the Kurds should be Israel’s next ally.
“Unlike most nations in the region, the Kurds prioritize inclusivity, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” he says. Moreover, Kurdistan and Israel share common enemies: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. And, like Israel 75 years ago, they seek independence.
Israel has historically supported Kurdish autonomy, providing military training and advocacy. However, political interests – especially with Turkey – have sometimes overshadowed this support, leading to strained relations.
After Oct. 7, he says, it is clear that if the Kurds were given a country, “it could be Israel’s next Azerbaijan. They can be our ambassadors to the Muslim world.”
Kurdistan has a population of around 6.5 million, with up to another 45 million Kurds spread throughout the world, including Israel’s some 300,000 Jewish Kurds. Among them is National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Kurds are delighted to have one of their own in Israel’s government. “Not that I am happy about it – but, you know, he is of Kurdish descent,” Ben-Yosef says with a wink.
Since the war, Ben-Yosef has held virtual meetings with Kurdish community leaders across Europe, the US, and Canada to raise awareness. He shows us pictures and videos where men and women draped in Kurdish flags are shouting for Israel, holding unprecedented protests in support of Israel throughout Europe. Later this month, 21 Kurdish community leaders will visit Israel on a solidarity mission, he says with pride.
Yet, he explains, bureaucratic hurdles hinder the full realization of this alliance. “Dozens of Kurds want to volunteer in Israel,” but visa restrictions on their Iraqi passports often prevent Kurdish individuals from freely engaging with Israel, “directly harming it.”
From kubbeh to kneidlach
Born in 1960 on Havatzelet Street – then a hub for moving companies and newspapers, including The Jerusalem Post – Ben-Yosef is a sixth-generation Jerusalemite dating back to pre-1948 days. His mother, a well-known cook, worked for famed Jerusalem poetess Leah Goldberg. As a child, he spent hours in Goldberg’s home while his mother cooked traditional Ashkenazi fare alongside her Kurdish delicacies.
(This fare included gefilte fish, prompting Ben-Yosef’s bodyguard to make a hilarious face.)
The conversation turns serious when we suggest that kneidlach are the Ashkenazi version of kubbeh.
“No, no, no,” he says, shaking his finger. “Do you know how many kinds of kubbeh there are? More than a dozen!” He lists several: kubbeh made of bulgur wheat; made with rice; with rice and chicken on the outside and beef on the inside; dairy kubbeh eaten with yogurt; kubbeh nayyeh of ground raw meat; with chickpeas; with beets; okra kubbeh; kubbeh infused in a broth of spinach, Swiss chard, celery, onion, garlic, and lemon; and kubbeh made for hamin (cholent).
Although there is no kubbeh at Joy Bistro, we are served a massive tray of meats, each bite exquisitely tender. A plate of seniya kebabs (Arabic for “one-pan meal”) follows, the hot dough wrap encasing mashwiya salad, meat, and hot tahini. While we did not indulge in vino (Why? we ask ourselves now), the bistro boasts an extensive collection.
Restaurant manager Kobi Museri explains that Joy aims to serve something for everyone. With its central location and Badatz Beit Yosef certification, customers run the gamut from not just haredim but tourists to secular people.
Joy Bistro was founded 20 years ago in the German Colony before moving to a Mamilla building predating the state’s foundation, then targeted by Jordanian snipers who would shoot at the largely Kurdish neighborhood from the Old City. After 1967, Ben-Yosef says ruefully, the Kurdish families were displaced from what is today incredibly valuable real estate, having been moved to more outer-lying areas like Katamonim.
We ask at what point after the Six Day War he visited the reunified Western Wall. “A week or so later,” he shares with a nostalgic look. “My father was a tour guide” and Ben-Yosef benefited from an inside view of many religious sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Activist & educator
Born in 1960 in Jerusalem, Ben-Yosef became an activist from an early age through the Oded movement. He served in the IDF Education Corps and built a career in teaching, among the educational leaders who helped introduce technological study programs into the ORT high school network.
Ben-Yosef founded Beit Hatzayar, a high school for youth with behavioral disorders, and fought to establish the beloved animal corner on Old Katamon’s Kaf Tet Be’November Street. The goats and geese provide animal therapy. Children love to walk by and visit the animals; mothers come with babies and older people with their caregivers.
“It connects the school to the neighborhood and the neighborhood residents to each other,” Ben-Yosef says.
He also established hostels and boarding facilities for the students studying at Beit Hatzayar, raising donations to fund the project.
From 1997 until his election to the city council in 2018, Ben-Yosef represented the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, expanding the area’s education system and establishing a police station. He also fought against the demolition of Canada House – Ulpan Etzion Jerusalem Campus, where many young Anglo immigrants live and learn when they first make aliyah.
He says if even 10% of these immigrants stay in the country, he has succeeded.
Ben-Yosef’s firm philosophy is centered on loving one’s fellow, humility, faith in one’s ability to create, being self-critical, and learning from all.
“There is no person, even a five-year-old, you cannot learn from,” he concludes. ■