Iraqi Leaders, Activists Call for Normalization With Israel

Sunni and Shiite leaders in Iraq openly called for peace with Israel on Friday, Channel 12 reported.

At a rally in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, some 300 Sunni leaders and former generals of the Iraqi army called for the country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

The first initiative of its kind in Iraq, where Israel’s sworn enemy Iran has a very strong influence, the conference was organized by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications (CPC).

The conference, which was broadcast live on several social networks, featured, among others, Chemi Peres, the son of former President Shimon Peres; he gave a speech in Hebrew, wherein he called for the normalization of ties between the two countries.

“From the day this government took office, our goal has been to expand the Abrahamic Accords. The event in Iraq inspires hope for places we hadn’t thought of before,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in response to the event.

The conference was securitized by the Kurdish security forces.

A few of the speakers linked the call for peace with Israel to the demand for the establishment of a federal government in Iraq.