Following Iran's ballistic missile attacks on various sites in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish province in northern Iraq, the Islamic republic claimed two secret Israeli bases were still active in the area. Tehran issued an ultimatum: Shut down the remaining bases or face further military action.
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Books can be written about Iranian aggression toward the Kurdish autonomy and Erbil's complicated relations with Baghdad, but whether Iran's claims that Israel is operating out of the autonomous area are true or not – the very insinuation of clear ties between Israel and a Muslim, Kurdish state entity in northern Iraq is notable.
The Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq was established in 1992, during the Gulf War, when the US declared the area a no-fly zone – which led to the withdrawal of Saddam Hussein's forces from the region. Leaders of the Kurdish underground, the courageous Peshmerga, formed a parliament and a government, and Erbil was named the capital city.
Between 1994 and 1997 a bloody civil war raged between the two main Kurdish political factions. The war ended in a political arrangement that brought a modicum of stability and democracy to the autonomous region. Following the fall of the Saddam regime in 2003, the Kurdish region became part of the Iraqi Federation and gained autonomy. This ushered in an era of significant economic prosperity. Unlike Iraq, which descended into all-out war and endless recession, the Kurdish region grew and flourished.
The connection between the Jewish state and the Kurds in northern Iraq was forged long before the latter received any degree of autonomy. The relationship can be traced all the way back to the 1960s when the Israeli government sought to create a coalition of non-Arab forces in the Middle East as a counter-balance to the united front posed by Arab countries in their fight against Israel. With Iranian help, the Mossad armed and trained those who fought under renowned Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani. Kurdish leaders, including Barzani himself, visited Israel in secret during those years, while representatives of the Israeli government and army visited northern Iraq.
Israel's connection to the Kurdish minority in Iraq reached a high point in 1966 when a Peshmerga force managed to wipe out an entire Iraqi brigade on its own in a battle south of Erbil. Israel at the time even built a field hospital for the wounded Kurdish fighters.
In 1975, however, Iran severed its relations with the Kurds, and the link between Israel and the Kurds consequently suffered as well.
Despite the severed relations and the difficulties the Kurds encountered in their struggle for independence, the pro-Israeli sentiment among much of the Kurdish leadership remained strong – and Israel even transferred humanitarian aid to northern Iraq via Turkey in the 1980s.
With the expulsion of Saddam's forces from northern Iraq, Israeli-Kurdish relations began to improve once again. In 2004, the leader of the Kurdish region, Masoud Barzani, met with then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and the two declared cooperation in certain regards. Barzani himself even said after the meeting that if Iraq established diplomatic ties with Israel, he would work to establish an Israeli consulate in Erbil. Over the years, foreign reports have indicated growing ties between Jerusalem and Erbil, and during the war against the Islamic State group between the years 2014-2017, it was reported that Israel helped the Peshmerga fight the terrorist group.
In light of the growing threat from Iran, many in Iraqi Kurdistan view the alliance with Israel as another link in the chain that will help assure the future of their autonomy and as a springboard to independence.
Dr. Mahdi Faraj, an expert on international relations from the Kurdish autonomy, said: "We share many common traits. In the past, the Kurds helped the Jews immigrate to Israel, and Israel helped the Kurds fight Saddam. Like many Kurds, I'm happy over Israel's success and am very familiar with its story. I'd like to see Israel help resolve the Kurdish national question."
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