Sadr supporters protest Sudani attending same summit as Israeli PM

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr supporters on Sunday held demonstrations in different areas of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, protesting Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s participation in a summit also attended by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sudani on Wednesday virtually joined in with more than 100 leaders who delivered speeches during the Summit for Democracy 2023, hosted by the United States government, and co-hosted by Costa Rica, Netherlands, South Korea, and Zambia.

Among the participants was Israel’s Netanyahu, sparking outrage across the Iraqi street which interpreted Sudani’s attendance as planting the seeds for normalizing Iraq-Israel relations, despite the fact that both leaders attended the summit virtually and had no direct interaction.

The protesters held demonstrations in Baghdad's Sadr City and al-Kadhimiya neighborhood, calling on the Iraqi government to release a statement denying any form of normalization with Israel, while burning flags of the Jewish state. 

“Answering the call of his excellency Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr, we, the people of Sadr City, took to the streets to protest against the normalization and against the Zionist Israel,” one of the protesters told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran.

Sadr announced his “definitive retirement” from politics late August after violent altercations using heavy weapons, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPGs) broke out between his supporters and those of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework.

“This government was formed by the Coordination Framework, so you can expect anything from them. They are always receiving [representatives of] the US embassy and US delegations, and we reject the American occupation and the Israeli normalization,” the Sadrist supporter added.

Larger demonstrations are expected to be held on Monday.

The Iraqi parliament in May of last year passed a bill criminalizing ties with Israel, marking the act as a crime punishable by death. The bill requires almost all officials, including those in Kurdistan Region, government institutions, and media to refrain from establishing relations with Israel.

The normalization of ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords is a US-led joint Middle East peace initiative. Four countries - the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco - have announced normalization agreements with Israel, with America's support.