The Historic Ties between Israel and the Kurds of Iraq Will Continue | Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

The Iraqi army participated in significant wars against Israel (1948, 1967, and 1973) and was defeated in all of them. Iraq nearly finished a nuclear reactor for the development of a nuclear bomb in 1981 for use against Israel, and it was destroyed by Israeli planes.

Technically, Iraq and Israel are still in a state of war and have no official diplomatic ties. This begs the question of why, 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.