"The parliament voted unanimously in favor of the law banning the normalization of relations with the Zionist entity [Israel]," Iraqi lawmakers said in a statement.
The bill prohibits the establishment of diplomatic, political, military, economic, cultural, or any other relations with Israel, and also criminalizes any form of normalization of relations with the country. In particular, Iraqi citizens are prohibited from visiting Israel or its embassies in other countries under the threat of life imprisonment. Establishment of any relations with Israel, disseminating Zionist ideology or participating in any Israeli organizations will also be punished by up to life sentence or even death penalty.
Iraq has become the first Arab country to introduce such a legislative norm.
In 2020, the United States launched a process aimed at normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries. As a result, in September 2020, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed a set of documents dubbed the Abraham Peace Accords, which were later joined by Morocco and Sudan. The accords entailed the resumption of embassy operations, the establishment of direct flights and the lifting of the ban on tourist trips and official visits.
The Palestinian authorities have criticized the Arab countries seeking to normalize relations with Israel and said that such steps undermine international law and rights of the Palestinians.
Iraq has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Shortly after the conclusion of the Abraham Accords, Iraqi Prime Minister spokesman Ahmad Mullah Talal said that the country's legislation did not allow for the normalization of relations with Israel.