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 Israel |  Kurdistan Region |
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TheState of Israel and theKurdistan Region of Iraq maintain a close informal relationship, but do not maintain formal diplomatic relations or missions in each other's territory. Their ties are rooted in Israel's historically strong support for theKurdish people and their long-running desire for self-determination and national independence inKurdistan.[1] In 1992, shortly afterIraq lost theGulf War, the Kurdistan Region was recognized as an autonomous entity and began governing a portion ofIraqi Kurdistan, marking a significant development in theIraqi–Kurdish conflict.
In light of Israel's conflict with theArab countries, the Kurdistan Region has declared that there is no cause for animosity between Kurds and Israelis.[2] In 2017, the Israeli government openly voiced support for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state.[3] Relations between the two sides have been met withantisemitism andanti-Kurdish sentiment from theArab League,Iran, andTurkey.[4][5]
The earliest attested interaction between what would later becomeIsrael andIraqi Kurdistan was in 1931, when the future director of Israel'sMossad,Reuven Shiloah, visited Kurdistan in disguise as aHebrew teacher and journalist. During his stay, he forged contacts and developed the foundation for an Israeli relationship with the non-Arab communities in the region.[6]
As relations betweenJews and Arabsdeteriorated further due to large gains made byJewish paramilitary groups in the1948 Palestine war, Jews residing inArab countries experiencedheightened persecution, which culminated intheir mass exodus. The majority ofIraq's Jewish population fled to Israel from the late-1940s onwards, and did so viaKurdistan with support from neighbouringIran and the newly independent Israeli state.[7][1] TheKurdish-Jewish community in Israel would later form the basis of the Israeli policy on the Kurds as they were the primary source of incoming information for Israel on thedeveloping situation of Kurdistan.[8]
Due to its existence as one of the few non-Arab states in theMiddle East alongside Iran andTurkey, Israel formulated the "periphery doctrine", which expressed that it needed to focus on the development of strategic relations with non-Arabs in the region. Among the groups in the policy were theKurds, who not only were the largest non-Arab population in the region, but also resided over a strategic territory in the Arab-majority state ofIraq, which had taken part in the1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1959, the Kurdish leaderMustafa Barzani sentKamuran Alî Bedirxan toGeneva,Switzerland, where he met with the erstwhile Israeli foreign ministerGolda Meir who promised unconditional Israeli support for an independent Kurdistan.[9] Israel began aiding the KurdishPeshmerga against the Iraqi state during theFirst Iraqi–Kurdish War, which lasted from 1961 to 1970 and resulted in the signing of theIraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement. Despite the signing of the treaty between Iraq and the Kurds, theIraqi–Kurdish conflict escalated shortly afterwards due to the resumption ofArabization campaigns against the Kurds.
While initially hesitant about an Israeli presence in Kurdistan,[11] Iran'sSAVAK intelligence agency was successfully convinced by Israel to assist the Kurds in 1961, and Israel was allowed to use Iranian territory as a conduit for its activities, which included the transportation of weapons and food. Israeli support for Kurdish forces in Iraq remained largely secretive and the existence of any relationship between the two sides was reportedly denied by Israel to theUnited States.[12] Israel and Iran also helped to form the Kurdish intelligence agencyParastin, which engaged in various espionage operations against theIraqi military. Bedirxan met with Israeli officials again in 1964, andIsraeli Prime MinisterDavid Ben-Gurion authorized Mossad to supply money andanti-aircraft weapons to the Kurds in Iraq. In May 1965, deputy-director of MossadDavid Kimche andIsraeli military chiefTzvi Tzur visited Kurdistan, where they met with Barzani in the town ofHaji Omeran. The Israelis agreed to provide a large supply of weapons and funding to the Kurds, and delivered the promised resources by winter of that year. Israel also helped Peshmerga troops improve their tactics and training, and played a significant role in the capture ofMount Handrin, where the Peshmerga inflicted thousands of casualties on the Iraqi military.[13] Barzani is known to have personally visited Israel twice in 1968 and 1973.[14]
The Iranian–Israeli–Kurdish alliance continued until the1975 Algiers Agreement was signed between Iran and Iraq followingheavy clashes between the two states over theShatt al-Arab. Among the conditions of the treaty was Iran's agreement to end its support for the Kurds in Iraq. Iran's fulfillment of this condition resulted in friction in its relationship with Israel.[7] The Israelis wanted to continue supporting the Kurds and had spent the preceding years pressuring the United States to increase its military assistance as a means to do so.[16] Israel considered Iran's signing of the agreement to be a betrayal,[17] and believed Iran would use the plight of the Kurds as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Iraq.[18] In response to the treaty, Israeli Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin stated, "TheShah sold out the Kurds".[17]
From the Kurdish perspective, relying on Israel was a way to pull the United States into the conflict. However, while Barzani supported the Israeli assistance,Jalal Talabani andAhmed Barzani were against it.[9]
Both Mossad and SAVAK urged the Iranian Shah to re-evaluate his position on the Kurds of Iraq following the Algiers Agreement, and the alliance gradually renewed by 1978 following theSecond Iraqi–Kurdish War;[19] the alliance effectively ceased to exist after the1979 Iranian Revolution, which overthrew thePahlavi dynasty and established theIslamic Republic of Iran. Despite thepan-Islamic andanti-Israel stance of the newtheocratic government of Iran, Israel maintained its support for Iran as well as pro-Iran Iraqi-Kurdish forces after the outbreak of theIran–Iraq War in September 1980.[20]
In 1982, theYinon Plan was published in Israel. It argued that theIran–Iraq War would ultimately split Iraq into three states and thus prove to be a strategic Israeli gain.[21] During theGulf War andsubsequent anti-government uprisings in Iraq, Israel sent large supplies of humanitarian aid to the Kurds via theIraq–Turkey border.[22]
After the2003 invasion of Iraq, Israeli Prime MinisterAriel Sharon pushed for the expansion of relations with Iraqi Kurds and for the establishment of "a significant presence on the ground" in Kurdistan; this plan was dubbed "Plan B"[a] by Israel. In June 2004,Seymour Hersh wrote an article forThe New Yorker wherein he claimed that Israel was supporting the Kurds militarily tocounteract Iranian proxy groups and that Israeli intelligence operatives were present in Iraq'sKurdistan Region. While aCIA official acknowledged this claim, other American officials as well as Israeli and Kurdish officials denied it.[23] In 2005,Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Kurdistan had received a large amount of Israeli-manufactured equipment and thatMotorola Israel andMagal Security Systems was training the Peshmerga while employing former Israeli soldiers. That same year, thePresident of the Kurdistan Region,Masoud Barzani, stated that: "“[E]stablishing relations between the Kurds and Israel is not a crime since many Arab countries have ties with theJewish state". In 2006, Israel condemned theBBC for reportedly filming Israeli forces training the Peshmerga.[24] In 2008,Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leaderJalal Talabani met withIsraeli Defense MinisterEhud Barak, prompting severe criticism from Arab-Iraqi leaders.[24]
The Foreign Minister of the Kurdistan Region,Falah Mustafa Bakir, stated in 2010 that: "We have no problems with Israel. They have not harmed us. We can't be hating them just because Arabs hate them."[2]
In June 2014, Israel accepted independently-sold Kurdish oil at anAshkelon port despite protests and criticism from Iraq.[25] Israeli officials stated that the country was keen on strengthening ties with the Kurdistan Region to broaden its options for energy supplies.[26] On selling oil to Israel, the government of the Kurdistan Region stated that the revenue was needed for its fight against theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[25] In the same month, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu stated that the Kurds in Iraq are a "fighting people who have proven political commitment and political moderation, and they are worthy of their own political independence."[27] In September 2014, Netanyahu further commented that Israel "supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state."[28] After the2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum resulted in a 93 percent pro-independence vote, Iraqi forcesretook a large portion of Kurdish-held territories. In response, Netanyahu stated thatIsraelis had a "deep natural longstanding sympathy" for the Kurds.[29]
In 2017, almost half of the oil extracted from Kurdish oil fields was exported to Israel; Israeli buyers of Kurdish oil are mostly private companies who receive an average of approximately 300,000 barrels of oil daily.[30]
In November 2023 commenting on theGaza war, Iraqi Kurdistan PresidentNechirvan Barzani called for humanitarian aid for Gaza, for theGaza war hostage crisis to resolve in the release of hostages, and the implementation of atwo-state solution.[31] Later that month he again called for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, adding that he did not want "Iraq to be involved in this war in any way".[32]
Following theNorthern Iraq offensive againstKurdish forces by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Israeli non-governmental organizationIsraAid, alongside theAmerican Jewish Committee, announced its provision of urgent assistance toChristians,Yazidis and other non-Muslim minorities who had fled to theKurdistan Region for safety.[33] In October 2014, IsraAid agency provided humanitarian supplies to refugees within the Kurdistan Region who had fled the ISIL campaign. IsraAid provided supplies to 1,000 families in the city ofDuhok in winter of that year, including beds, infant supplies and blankets. The IsraAid assistance was provided in collaboration with theCanadianONEXONE humanitarian foundation, and was coordinated with authorities inIraqi Kurdistan. The founding director of IsraAidShahar Zahavi toldArutz Sheva that the Israeli humanitarian team was warmly received by the residents and refugees of the Kurdistan Region.[34] By early 2015, IsraAid trucks provided 3,000 relief items to Dohuk to aid refugees.[35]
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