TIMES OF ISRAEL
US and Israel want to unite Middle East against Iran, but Iraq could pose a problem
Ron Kampeas
July 16, 2022

It has become a kind of mantra in Washington and Jerusalem: Integrate much of the Middle East, including Israel, into a single security system to keep Iran in its place…The prospects for an anti-Iran alliance look good. There’s major buy-in from both parties in Congress, the Biden administration is on board and some of Israel’s neighboring Arab nations are at least intrigued, if not enthusiastic. But for strategic purposes, every concept of the alignment includes Iraq, a country that just formally outlawed normalization with Israel — and made it punishable by death. READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Lawmakers urge Biden to push back on Iraq’s anti-Israel law during Mideast trip In a letter sent to President Joe Biden on Tuesday ahead of his trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, which begins tomorrow in Jerusalem, a bipartisan group of 24 House and Senate lawmakers urged the president to make clear U.S. opposition to Iraq’s recently passed law outlawing relations with Israel during his visit.