Iraq’s caretaker PM rules out Israel normalization

Shafaq News – Baghdad (Updated on December 25 at 00:20)

Iraq’s normalization with Israel has “no place” in the country’s dictionary, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said on Wednesday.

Speaking during Christmas celebrations at St. Joseph’s Church in Baghdad, Al-Sudani said Iraq’s position on what he described as “issues of destiny” remained firm and reflected the core principles of the Iraqi people.

His remarks followed comments by Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and worldwide, who referred to public discussion around normalization. “I hope the new government’s normalization will be in Iraq and with Iraq,” Sako said, adding that “the Talmud (a Jewish holy book) was written in Babylon,” which is now Iraq’s Babil province.

The discourse comes amid broader debate in the Arabic world over normalization with Israel following its war on Gaza. Baghdad does not recognize Israel and has repeatedly rejected formal ties, and in 2022, parliament passed a law criminalizing contact with Israeli institutions and individuals.

In November, a criminal court in Dhi Qar province sentenced a man to eight years in prison under that law for urging the Iraqi government to normalize relations with Israel.