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Source: https://jcpa.org/article/the-historic-ties-between-israel-and-the-kurds-of-iraq-will-continue/
The Historic Ties between Israel and the Kurds of Iraq Will Continue
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Suzan Quitaz - Historically, Israel has had cordial ties with the Kurds in a generally hostile region. After the fall of Saddam Hussain in 2003, the Kurds established a de facto Kurdish state and renewed and deepened their relations with Israel. On September 25, 2017, the Kurds held an Independence Referendum, in which 93% of Kurds voted in favor of independence. Israel was the only country in the world to endorse an independent Kurdish state. If Kurds ever have their own independent state, they most definitely would join the Abraham Accords. However, many challenges and obstacles remain for this to happen. In May 2022, the Iraqi Parliament passed a law that threatens the death penalty or life imprisonment for any Iraqi citizen, company, or institution that attempts any kind of normalization with Israel or Israelis. The writer is a Kurdish-Swedish journalist and researcher on Middle Eastern affairs.