Israel in Arabic, a Twitter account run by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted Jan. 6 that several Iraqi delegations had visited Israel in 2018, meeting with Israeli officials and touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry promptly denied having knowledge of any such visits.
Iraq's parliamentary speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi called Jan. 10 for the formation of a committee to investigate Israel's claims. Meanwhile, an Israeli author and commentator, Edy Cohen, claimed to have received a list of those Iraqis who visited Israel. All the Iraqis on this alleged list denied having traveled to Israel. Former member of parliament Ahmed Jarba told the media that the false report that he had visited Israel “seeks to tarnish [his] image.”
