Iraq
The Iraqi parliament unanimously voting on bill to ban relations with Israel on May 26, 2022. Photo: Iraqi Council of Representatives/Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi Council of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to ban all relations with Israel, in legislation that will also apply to the Kurdistan Region. Prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr referred to the decision as a “great achievement,” in a statement following the vote.
The Iraqi parliament held its regular meeting on Thursday, headed by Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and attended by 275 MPs.
The parliamentary meeting began by changing the name of the bill from “Banning Normalization and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity” to “Criminalizing Normalization and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity.”
Following the renaming, the legislature passed the bill by consensus of all attending MPs.
"We affirm that this law, which was unanimously voted by the voters, represents a true reflection of the will of the people, a brave national decision, and a position that is the first of its kind in the world in terms of criminalizing the relationship with the Zionist entity. Therefore, we call on the Arab and Islamic parliaments to issue similar legislation that meets the aspirations of their peoples," the parliament said in a statement on Thursday.
The main part of the bill criminalizes the normalization of relations with the “Zionist entity,” a reference to Israel, in addition to the “banning of the establishment of diplomatic, political, military, economic, and cultural relations and any other sort of relations with the invading Zionist entity.”
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. A conference in September advocating for Iraq to join the agreement, was met with widespread condemnation and criticism from the public and officials.
Following the announcement of passing the bill, Sadr released a statement praising God and calling on the Iraqi people to take to the streets in celebration of this “great achievement.”
The bill requires almost all officials, including those in Kurdistan Region, government institutions and media to refrain from establishing relations with Israel.
In March, Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles towards the capital of the Kurdistan Region Erbil, under the pretext of striking an Israeli base. However, a report by the Iraqi parliament’s fact-finding committee later said that it found no evidence to support the Iranian accusations.
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