Images emerge of Dilshad Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq’s representative in Germany, at a Nowruz event hosted last Thursday by Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor at his Berlin residence.
Barzani is the son of legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani, who enjoyed close ties with Israel during his revolts against the central Iraqi government. Dilshad’s brother Masoud — president of Iraqi Kurdistan until 2017 — leads the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region. His nephew Nechirvan is Kurdistan’s current president.
Since 2022, Iraq has had a law on the books criminalizing normalization of ties and any relations, including business ties, with Israel. The legislation says that violation of the law is punishable with a death sentence or life imprisonment.
Last week’s event was also attended by Reiner Haseloff, minister president of the German state Saxony-Anhalt, senior Kurdish leader in Germany Ali Ertan Toprak, and other senior German politicians.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
