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Understand the facts.
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Short, clear modules on shared history, diplomacy, the Abraham Accords and the Abrahamic Movement—built for curious learners.
Deep dive · Interactive guide
The Abrahamic Movement in Iraq
Explore the Movement’s Iraq work through faith, shared Abrahamic heritage, civic dialogue, the Abraham Accords connection and The Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel’s international room.
Open the interactive guide →
1
Shared history
Why Iraqi Jewish heritage matters to understanding the region.
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2
Diplomacy basics
Official relations, normalization, Track II and civic diplomacy.
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3
Abraham Accords
How the agreements began, expanded and changed regional diplomacy.
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4
The Abrahamic Movement
Explore the civic and interfaith movement, including its Iraq chapter and people-to-people approach.
Learn more →Meet your learning guides
Four recurring guides help connect history, diplomacy, regional affairs and civic dialogue.
AdamDiplomacyEmbassies · relations · agreements
NoorRegional affairsAbraham Accords · timeline · countries
DanielCivic dialoguePeople · dialogue · civic initiatives
Key milestones
2020
The Abraham Accords begin
Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the first Abraham Accords agreements in September 2020. Morocco followed in December 2020 and Sudan signed the declaration in January 2021.
2022
Iraq adopts a law criminalizing normalization
Iraq’s Official Gazette published Law No. 1 of 2022, which prohibits and criminalizes normalization and the establishment of relations with Israel. This legal context is essential when discussing Iraqi official policy.
2025
Kazakhstan announces accession to the Abraham Accords
Kazakhstan joined the framework in a different way from the original normalization cases: it had already maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992.
Today
Different layers must be kept distinct
Official diplomacy, domestic law, historical heritage, public opinion and independent civic dialogue are separate layers. Understanding the region means not collapsing them into one category.
1. Which statement is accurate?
2. What best describes Track II diplomacy?
3. Why is Iraqi Jewish heritage relevant to this subject?
Interactive learning tools
Try it yourself
Three quick ways to turn reading into practice.
Timeline challenge
Tap the years from earliest to latest.
Choose the earliest event first.
True or false
Track II diplomacy is the same as official government negotiation.
Choose your level
See the same idea explained at different depths.
What is normalization?When two countries move from little or no official relationship toward ordinary official relations.
A process of establishing or expanding diplomatic, travel, economic and other official ties after non-recognition, rupture or hostility.
A political and legal process whose content depends on the bilateral agreements involved; it may include recognition, diplomatic missions, aviation, trade, security coordination and sector-specific agreements.
Module 1 · Shared history
A relationship is more than governments
Iraq and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations, but the human history connecting the societies is much older and more complex than modern state-to-state politics.
Three windows into Iraqi Jewish history
Deep roots
Jewish communities in Mesopotamia developed religious, intellectual and communal traditions over many centuries, making the region one of the historic centers of Jewish life.
Cities and everyday life
In modern Iraq, Jewish communities were especially visible in Baghdad and also lived in Basra, Mosul and other cities, participating in commerce, education, music and the professions.
An archive rescued
The Iraqi Jewish Archive, discovered in Baghdad in 2003, preserves thousands of books and tens of thousands of documents illuminating schools, families, institutions and daily life.
Iraqi Jewish life is part of Iraqi history
Jewish communities lived in Mesopotamia for more than two millennia. In the modern era, Iraqi Jews were active in commerce, public life, education, music and the professions. The U.S. National Archives estimates that about 130,000 Jews lived in Iraq by 1949, primarily in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul.
Historic interior of the Great Synagogue of Baghdad. Public-domain image; source: Wikimedia Commons / Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center.Build the timeline
Select a lens to see how heritage, conflict, law and diplomacy overlap without becoming the same story.
c. 6th century BCE
Jewish communities in Mesopotamia
After the Babylonian exile, Jewish religious and intellectual life developed deeply in Mesopotamia. The region later became a major center of Jewish scholarship.
Early 20th century
A large, visible Iraqi Jewish community
Jewish Iraqis participated in urban economic, cultural and professional life. Archival records preserve schools, hospitals, communal institutions and family histories.
1948
War and the absence of diplomatic relations
Iraq participated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. Iraq and Israel did not establish diplomatic relations after Israel’s creation.
1950–1951
A major transformation of Iraqi Jewish life
Most of Iraq’s Jewish population left the country during the early 1950s, many settling in Israel. The migration reshaped both Iraqi society and communities in Israel.
2003
The Iraqi Jewish Archive is discovered
More than 2,700 books and tens of thousands of documents were found in Baghdad and later conserved and digitized by the U.S. National Archives and partners.
2020
The Abraham Accords begin
Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the first Abraham Accords agreements in September 2020. Morocco followed in December 2020 and Sudan signed the declaration in January 2021.
2022
Iraq adopts a law criminalizing normalization
Iraq’s Official Gazette published Law No. 1 of 2022, which prohibits and criminalizes normalization and the establishment of relations with Israel. This legal context is essential when discussing Iraqi official policy.
2025
Kazakhstan announces accession to the Abraham Accords
Kazakhstan joined the framework in a different way from the original normalization cases: it had already maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992.
Today
Different layers must be kept distinct
Official diplomacy, domestic law, historical heritage, public opinion and independent civic dialogue are separate layers. Understanding the region means not collapsing them into one category.
Module 2 · Diplomacy basics
Learn the vocabulary before debating the politics
Many arguments become confusing because different kinds of relationships are treated as synonyms. Open each concept and test the distinction.
How diplomacy can develop
Not every relationship follows every step, but this sequence helps explain how contact can grow into formal cooperation.
Contact
Dialogue
Confidence
Cooperation
Agreement
What an embassy typically does
Represent
Communicates a government’s official positions and represents the state abroad.
Connect
Builds working relationships with institutions, communities, business, academia and culture.
Consular work
Many missions assist citizens and travelers, depending on their mandate and local arrangements.
Report
Diplomats observe political, economic and social developments and report to their governments.
Government levelDiplomatic relations
＋
Formal state-to-state relations, normally involving official recognition, embassies or accredited representatives.
State policyNormalization
＋
A process in which states establish or expand ordinary diplomatic, economic, travel or other formal relations after a period of non-recognition or hostility.
Unofficial dialogueTrack II diplomacy
＋
Unofficial dialogue among experts, academics, former officials, civil society or other non-governmental participants. It can explore ideas but does not itself create official state policy.
Civil societyCivic diplomacy
＋
People-to-people engagement intended to improve understanding or cooperation outside formal government diplomacy.
Long-term processPeacebuilding
＋
Long-term work that can include dialogue, education, institutions, reconciliation, economic cooperation and efforts to reduce drivers of conflict.
Culture & memoryHeritage dialogue
＋
Using history, archives, culture and shared memory to understand communities and recover connections that politics may obscure.
Module 3 · Abraham Accords
How the Abraham Accords began, expanded and changed regional diplomacy
The Abraham Accords are best learned as a sequence of real diplomatic steps: breakthrough announcements, signed agreements, restored official relations, new cooperation—and later accession by a country that already had relations with Israel.
Five participation paths
The framework grew through different legal and diplomatic routes rather than one identical document.
United Arab Emirates
2020 treaty establishing peace, diplomatic relations and full normalization.
Bahrain
2020 declaration establishing peace and diplomatic relations.
Morocco
2020 joint declaration restoring and expanding official relations.
Sudan
Signed the Abraham Accords Declaration in 2021; later instability complicated full implementation.
Kazakhstan
Announced accession in 2025 after decades of existing diplomatic relations with Israel.
2020 · The breakthrough
On 13 August 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced a move toward full normalization. Bahrain announced its own normalization track on 11 September.
Opening agreements15 September 2020 · The signing
At the White House, Israel and the UAE signed a treaty of peace, diplomatic relations and full normalization. Israel and Bahrain signed a declaration of peace and diplomatic relations, alongside the Abraham Accords Declaration.
Washington signing2020–2021 · Morocco and Sudan
Morocco, Israel and the United States signed a joint declaration in Rabat on 22 December 2020. Sudan signed the Abraham Accords Declaration in January 2021, although later instability and war complicated full bilateral implementation.
Different legal paths2025 · Kazakhstan accedes
Kazakhstan announced accession to the Abraham Accords in November 2025. This was different from the original normalization cases because Kazakhstan and Israel had already maintained diplomatic relations since 1992.
Later accessionWhat did The Abraham Accords make possible?
Formal state-to-state relations can support embassies, official visits, direct communication and agreements between ministries.
Depending on the bilateral relationship, normalization can open direct flights, tourism, business, investment and commercial ties.
Participants have pursued cooperation in areas such as technology, health, water, energy, finance, research and security policy.
Important limit: the Abraham Accords did not by themselves resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict or every regional dispute. They changed relations between participating states. Iraq is not a signatory, and Iraqi law currently criminalizes normalization with Israel.
Module 4 · The Abrahamic Movement
A civic and interfaith network built around dialogue, shared heritage and people-to-people peace
The Abrahamic Movement is a separate civil-society initiative, not a treaty or government program. In our Iraq-focused work, The Virtual Embassy of Iraq in Israel is the Movement’s international arm: we carry its civic dialogue into the international room through Track II diplomacy, multilingual public diplomacy, heritage, international partnerships and people-to-people outreach.
From conversation to civic cooperation
A simple way to understand how people-to-people initiatives can develop.
Listen
Dialogue
Learn
Collaborate
Where civic initiatives can work
Education & dialogue
Seminars, learning programs and exchanges can create spaces for participants to encounter new ideas and one another.
Heritage & culture
Shared stories, archives, music, places and memory can become starting points for conversation.
Community networks
Civil-society relationships can connect educators, professionals, religious figures and community organizers across boundaries.
Why the name “Abrahamic”?
The movement uses Abraham/Ibrahim as a shared point of reference across Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with the aim of creating space for cooperation without asking communities to erase their differences.
Source: The Abrahamic Movement’s own public materialsThe Iraq chapter
What the movement says it is trying to build in Iraq.
Dialogue
Religious and civic conversation
The chapter describes work with Sunni, Shiite and Sufi communities and frames interfaith engagement as part of Iraq’s own religious and social history.
Education
Seminars and community engagement
Its stated approach includes educational activity for professionals and students, with an emphasis on moderation and resisting sectarian extremism.
Peace
Diplomacy from below
The movement presents civil society as a place where relationships can be built before—or even when—formal state diplomacy is absent.
Source transparency matters: descriptions of the movement’s structure and chapters are primarily its own public claims. Treat them as organizational self-description and verify specific activities independently when needed.
Open the full Abrahamic Movement in Iraq interactive guide →
Knowledge check
Can you separate history, diplomacy and advocacy?
Four questions. Your score stays in your browser; nothing is submitted.
1. Which statement is accurate?
2. What best describes Track II diplomacy?
3. Why is Iraqi Jewish heritage relevant to this subject?
4. What makes Kazakhstan’s 2025 Abraham Accords accession different?
Knowledge Check · The Learning CenterThe Virtual Embassy of Iraq in IsraelLearn · Understand · Connect
Reference desk
Search the glossary
Use precise language. Search a term or browse all definitions.
Abraham Accords
A set/framework of normalization agreements and declarations beginning in 2020 between Israel and participating Arab states.
Abrahamic dialogue
Interfaith or intercultural engagement among communities associated with Abrahamic religious traditions.
Civic diplomacy
Non-governmental, people-to-people activity intended to improve communication and understanding across borders.
Diplomatic relations
Formal relations between states, often including mutual recognition, embassies or accredited diplomatic representation.
Normalization
The establishment or expansion of ordinary official relations between states after non-recognition, rupture or hostility.
Peacebuilding
Long-term efforts to reduce conflict drivers and strengthen relationships, institutions and conditions for sustainable peace.
Track I diplomacy
Official diplomacy conducted by governments and authorized representatives.
Track II diplomacy
Unofficial dialogue involving civil society, experts, academics, former officials or other non-governmental participants.
Iraqi Jewish heritage
The religious, cultural, social, archival and historical legacy of Jewish communities that lived in Iraq for many centuries.
Primary source
Original evidence such as a law, treaty, archival document, official record, speech, photograph or contemporaneous record.
Secondary source
Analysis or reporting that interprets, contextualizes or synthesizes primary evidence.
Civic initiative
An independent non-governmental effort organized by individuals or civil society rather than a state authority.
No matching terms.
Source room
Start with primary and institutional sources
This learning page is designed to send you outward to evidence. Open the documents, inspect context and compare interpretations.
Legal and political conditions can change. For current legal status, consult the latest official Iraqi sources rather than relying on summaries.
Keep learning
Move from concepts to original records and long-form analysis.