Shafaq News/ The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called on the federal government to arrest Iraqi figures who called for normalization with Israel.
"Erbil should prevent these meetings," which he described as "Zionist terrorist." Threatening to "work legally, mentally and patriotically to prevent gatherings of those who called for normalization," Al-Sadr said in a statement.
He called on the government to arrest all those gathered at the conference, calling on his supporters to wait for his order "to deal with these filthy examples."
He confirmed that "Iraq is immuned to normalization," vowing to take another stand after obtaining the majority and the prime ministership after the upcoming elections.
On Friday, A new Iraqi group called for the normalization of relations with Israel publicly, an unprecedented event in the Country.
The group, which includes more than 300 Iraqi figures from the Sunni and Shiite sects from Baghdad, Mosul, Al-Anbar, Babel, Saladin, and Diyala, demanded that Iraq have normal relations with Israel through The Abraham Accords.
The Abraham Accords were signed on the White House lawn in September 2020 between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. Morocco and Sudan signed normalization agreements with Israel in the ensuing months.
The statement said, "We are a gathering of Sunnis and Shiites that includes members of the (Sunni) Sons of Iraq Awakening Movement (Al-Sahwa), as well as intellectuals, tribal sheiks, and youth activists from the 2019-2021 protest movement. Some of us have confronted ISIS and al-Qaeda."
"We have demonstrated in blood and tears that we oppose all extremists, the Sunni jihadists and Iranian-backed Shiite militias. We have also demonstrated our patriotism...We have sacrificed our lives for a united Iraq and hope to achieve a federal system in the Country," the statement said.
Al-Sahwa distanced itself from supporting or joining this gathering.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, welcomed an Iraqi gathering's call for normalization with his Country, describing the event as "a hopeful event."
"From the day this government took office, our goal has been to expand the Abrahamic Accords. The event in Iraq inspires hope for places we hadn't thought of before," the Israeli Foreign Minister said in response to the event.
"We and Iraq have a common history and roots in the Jewish community, and wherever they contact us, we will do anything to turn back the clock," he said.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government announced its "firm" rejection of the "illegal" meetings held by some tribal figures residing in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region who called for normalization with Israel.
"First, these meetings do not represent the people and residents of the dear Iraqi cities, these personalities are desperately trying to speak in the name of their residents, but they only represent themselves." The statement said.
According to the statement, this gathering represents an attempt to "destabilize the general situation and revive the abhorrent sectarian tone while all Iraqi cities are preparing to hold the early and fair elections."
"Presenting the concept of normalization is constitutionally, legally and politically rejected in the Iraqi state…the government clearly expressed Iraq's consistent historical position in support of the just Palestinian cause and the defense of the rights of the Palestinian people to have an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. Therefore, all forms of settlement, aggression, and occupation by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people are rejected."
Kurdistan's Interior Ministry also said that the meeting was held without neither the knowledge, nor approval, nor the participation of the Region, and "it does not express the position of the Kurdish Government."