Israeli foreign policy toward the Kurdistan region of Iraq after 2003

Abstract

The Israeli foreign policy witnessed many challenges in the years 2003-2015, as the fall of the regime in Iraq and the emergence of the terrorist group ISIS in it provided new opportunities and challenges for it. The strategic vacuum resulting from the occupation of Iraq increased the golden opportunity for Israel to penetrate Iraqi Kurdistan by focusing on designing and implementing its strategic plans as well as its geopolitical interests, taking into account its geopolitical heart. The relationship between Israel and the Kurds is an extension of the Israeli foreign policy and its national security strategy in the Middle East in order to break out of isolation and expand its presence in the region. Accordingly, Israel’s charter to direct presence in the region, and with its infiltration into economic and social activities in the region, seeking to obtain a new strategic ally in the Middle East. Therefore, Israel has identified the Kurdish minority as an ally in its hostile environment, where it establishes ties with it.