Gov’t warns Israelis to get out of... Iraq?

Advisory in light of “the increased phenomenon of Israelis visiting Iraq."

By HERB KEINON
Iraq Kurdish protests 311 (photo credit: REUTERS/Ako Rasheed)
Iraq Kurdish protests 311
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ako Rasheed)
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on Monday warning Israelis against going to Iraq, saying travel there was both against the law and extremely dangerous.
The statement was issued in the name of the National Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Bureau in light of “the increased phenomenon of Israelis visiting Iraq, including in the Kurdish region in the northeast part of the country, around the capital and in the south of the country.”
According to the PMO statement, it is forbidden for any Israeli to visit Iraq without special permission. Nevertheless, government officials say an undetermined number of Israelis, many of them Kurdish or Iraqi Jews, travel there either to visit the places of their birth or on business.
In late 2005, Yediot Aharonot ran a story saying that dozens of Israelis were helping Kurds establish anti-terror units, and that Kurdish government officials were hiring Israeli security and communications companies to train and equip Kurdish security forces.