Iraqi-Israeli relations

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Iraqi-Israeli relations
Location of Israel and Iraq
IsraelIsrael IraqIraq
Israel Iraq

The relationship between Iraq and Israel is hostile since 1948, when the Iraq with other Arab states the newly created Israel in Palestine war attack. Since then, Iraq has participated in several military actions, such as the Six Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. During the First Gulf War between Iraq and Iran, Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear power plant in eastern Iraq in 1981 . During the second Gulf War in 1991, Iraq fired Scud rockets several times on Israeli territory, although Israel did not officially participate in this war.

In Operation Ezra and Nehemiah , around 120,000 to 130,000 Iraqi Jews were evacuated to Israel from 1950 to 1952 , while around 34,000 Palestinian refugees emigrated to Iraq. Despite the tense relationship, both states maintain diplomatic relations with one another.

Relationship since 1948

With the establishment of the State of Israel in the Palestinian War in 1948, the states found themselves in a state of war under international law. Iraq deployed troops against Israel in 1948 and 1967 and to protect Syria in 1973. Unlike Egypt , Jordan and Syria, Iraq was never ready to sign a ceasefire or, like Egypt and Jordan, a peace agreement with Israel.

Even when Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq in 1979 , the situation did not improve. Saddam Hussein was known in the Arab countries for his rejection of the state of Israel and supported Palestinian uprisings against Israel. In 1981 Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear power plant in eastern Iraq , as it was suspected that nuclear weapons were to be developed there.

In 1991, during the second Gulf War, 39 Scud rockets were shot down on Israel from Iraq. These caused two deaths from direct hits, according to the Jerusalem Post , four others were suffocated in gas masks, and 68 people died of heart attacks attributed to the attacks. At the request of the Americans, Israel did not respond directly to the attacks militarily, so as not to endanger the coalition against Iraq, to ​​which many countries hostile to Israel belonged. Even after the fall of Saddam in 2003, Iraq did not change its stance on the State of Israel under the new government.

In 2018, three delegations from the Iraqi capital Baghdad visited Israel in great secrecy for the first time. The names of the 15 Iraqi delegation members are kept secret for security reasons. The focus was on academic and cultural topics.

Israeli relations with the Iraqi Kurds

Relations between Israel and the Iraqi Kurds have been documented at least since 1961 when Kurds fought in a revolt against the Iraqi army (see Barzani revolts ). The Kurd in exile Ismet Sherif Wanli met in secret, with the support of the Iranian secret service, with several Israeli politicians to act as an intermediary for the Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani . From 1968 to 1973 Barzani and two of his sons were allowed to enter Israel several times, and Israeli envoys were also involved in the humanitarian and military fields in the Kurdish areas. In addition, weapons were delivered to the Kurds under the eyes of Iran until Iran stopped this practice in 1975. In the period after that there is no information about Israeli-Kurdish relations until 2003. During the occupation of Iraq there are reports that Israel is training Kurdish fighters. Danny Yatom , former director of the Mossad, is said to have done business in the Kurdish security sector. The construction and telecommunications industries in Israel are also said to be active in Kurdistan. Lately, several politicians have publicly declared that Israel would recognize an independent Kurdish state.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ jewishvirtuallibrary.org
  2. ↑ Iraqi delegations visited Israel. In: Israelnetz .de. January 7, 2019, accessed January 19, 2019 .
  3. ^ Joseph Croitoru: Changing the map of the Middle East. An independent Kurdish state does not currently have many advocates. Israel sees the situation differently and relies on cooperation with non-Arab groups. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. August 27, 2014, accessed April 14, 2016 .