Former Israeli minister representing the Jewish state in Abu Dhabi, meets with Iraqi delegation as Baghdad eyes alliance with Israel to neutralize Iranian influence in Iraq.
Iraq is quietly working to establish ties with Israel in the hopes of securing Israeli support to push Iranian forces out of Iraq, and as part of a larger effort to improve ties with the West, a former Israeli minister said over the weekend.
Ayoub Kara, a member of Israel’s Druze minority who served in the Knesset for over 20 years as part of the Likud party, including several stints as a minister, recently met with a delegation from Iraq during a visit in Abu Dhabi, Ma’ariv reported Saturday.
During an interview with the Hebrew daily, Kara revealed that the Iraqi delegation used the meeting to lobby the former minister to use his influence in the ruling Israeli party to secure IDF backing for Iraqi efforts to curtail Iranian influence in Iraq.
Kara said that the efforts to quietly establish informal ties between the two countries was part of a broader pattern of emerging de facto relations between Israel and multiple Arab states.
Israel is, Kara said, “managing to create contact with almost all Arab countries, including states with which we have no formal relations—Libya, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.”
“We sit with people at the highest levels to promote cooperation with Israel.”
In the case of Iraq, Baghdad is interested in cooperating with Jerusalem in order to shake off Iranian control.
While Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s coalition rests in part on the support of pro-Iranian factions, his party, the centrist Furatayn Movement, has sought to curtain Iranian influence in Iran, and to integrate autonomous pro-Iranian militias into the Iraqi military.
Some pro-Iranian militias, including Kata’ib Hezbollah, have rebuffed government attempts to rein in their activities, refusing to accept state authority.
According to Kara, the Iraqi government is eyeing Israeli assistance in dismantling Iranian proxy forces inside Iraq.
“They want ties with Israel. They don’t want Iran on their soil and are pressuring me to push the Israeli government and IDF to drive Iran out of Iraq.”
In particular, Kara said, Iraq hopes to secure Israeli technology which would enable it to defend itself while challenging Iranian influence.
In addition, the Iraqi delegation asked the former Israeli minister to push the Netanyahu government to encourage the U.S. to assist Iraq, Kara claimed.
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