Is that even possible? If it did, how would that affect the situation over there? If Egypt, Jordan and Iraq were at peace with Israel, would Syria change?
Sounds like this would be a great debate!
Speaking of which…
I very much doubt it. In my opinion, too many people think of the middle east as a homogeneous whole. The truth is that what happens in one country does not affect the others very much as long as it’s an internal matter. what’s happening in iraq now is arguably an internal matter. When a new government emerges after the war, it won’t matter if they recognize israel or not. The other countries will stand by their positions.
For sure. The new! improved! Iraqi government will discover a long suppressed admiration and accord with Israel. They’ve always had a deep fondness for Israel, they just didn’t know it.
;j
[sub]I’m not proud of that. I just had to do it.[/sub]
I think it’s very possible. The new regime will be the US’s bitch for quite a while. During the whole rebuilding process Israel will be in the US’s face, pushing for it. The US will do what they can. They won’t be the best of buddies, but not as hostile as before the regime change.
If anything, it’ll be a secular democracy. And Israel will be a lot safer with this regime than the old one.
That’s sort of along the lines of what I was thinking.
Nobody’s heard squat from the Iraqi public in a few decades. Could it be that, given the opportunity to leapfrog a couple of centuries, they could give a shit about having Jews and Palestinians for neighbors?
I guess I’d add that more than a few of them may have realized that their Arab buds didn’t help 'em out very much during the last quarter century.
ROFLMAO! Put to a vote, which group will show stronger support for recognizing Israel - the Sunnis, the Shias, or the Kurds?
I dunno AZ, what do you think the next Iraqi government’s take on Israel will be?
Oh, I suspect the government will be real kind to Israel.
I just wouldn’t use democracy to describe the policy.
Here, it says that Syria would recognize Israel as part of a comprehensive peace solution. I don’t see how an Iraqi change in government does anything with regards to that.
http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200106/23/eng20010623_73309.html
This article talks about the Saudi Arabian peace proposal, which indicates the Saudis are prepared to recognize Israel as part of some comprehensive peace plan, so I don’t see how events in Iraq would change that stance.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/02/25/mideast/
I can’t find confirmation, but I was under the impression that one of the sticking points for the Israelis was the Iraq would not realistically be a part of the Saudi peace initiative. Certainly a regime change in Iraq could remove that obstacle, but I’m sure there’s a ton of other issues which all sides are miles apart on. So, even if Iraq chooses to independently recognize Israel without some comprehensive peace settlement with the Saudis, the Syrians, and the Palestinians, I don’t see how it would change the overall situation with Israel.
Well now the Palestinians have a Prime Minister, and their negotiating status has changed. Will that help?
I think it’d be a stretch for any Iraqi government to recognize Israel in the near future. The unfortunate fact is that a democratic Iraqi government will be just as anti-Israeli as any dictatorship; the majority of Muslims in the region hate the Israelis. Even if there is a dictatorship that’s able to ignore public opinion, any Iraqi shift towards Israel would be seen by neighboring countries as a sign of American control. So whatever regime controls Iraq after the war will have to remain anti-Israeli to maintain domestic and international support.
Interesting question. Is there any reliable survey of Kurdish public opinion, ever? What might their opinion of Israel possibly be? What about “the enmy of my enemy is my friend”?
I think the Kurds are pretty much a black box at this point, so I really have no idea. Discussion welcomed.
I am no expert on the area, but back in 1999, Kurdish PKK “terrorists” raided the Israeli Consulate in Berlin.
I suspect “strained” may be descriptive.
And “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” doesn’t seem to apply to the Kurds. I’m not sure they have any true friends, but plenty of enemies.
Well, I’d hope the PKK wouldn’t be representative of the Kurdish people as a whole, or even of Kurdish leadership. I also don’t know to what extent the PKK is primarily an organization of Turkish rather than Iraqi Kurds.
Any moderate Kurdish Dopers out there who can provide some perspective? 
Take this with a grain of salt, folks, but it offers one perspective on the KDP and PUK opinions :
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/rubin/rubin-other.htm
Eva Luna: The PKK is indeed an overwhelmingly a Turkish organization. One can’t really speak of a general Kurdish position - The various groups are all over the map in their approaches, loyalties, even languages - Caucasus south ;). Just as one example the original KDP of the Barzani’s was ( and to some extent still is ) strongly tribal in character, while the PKK were/are more ideological.
- Tamerlane
Tamerlane, wow, that article hit the spot. Thanks for the contribution.
While it is descriptive of the issue at hand, it also demonstrates the complexity of the issue in the region.
While it appears that there is more pro-Israel sentiment within the Kurdish population than I would have guessed, it is clearly a mixed bag. And Eva Luna’s “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” may be more valid than I originally assumed.
But perhaps the pertinent quote for the issue specific to this OP is:
And, of course, Sadat just loved Israel too when he signed the Camp David accords in 1977, right?
Not liking Israel is entirely different than recognizing them diplomatically.