Many of Israel’s detractors questioned the authenticity of the positive messages from Iraq. Some even accused Jerusalem of fabricating the social media posts. So, we reached out to some of the Iraqis involved, and found that not only is the phenomenon genuine, it’s actually more widespread than most realize. In fact, there’s at least one Iraq-based organization actively and publicly working for an alliance between the two nations.

Project Bright Future openly supports Israel’s right to exist and calls for diplomatic relations between Iraq and the Jewish state. Israel Today spoke to the project leader, Ali A.

Israel Today: What is Project Bright Future, and why is it necessary?

Ali A.: Project Bright Future was founded in 2011 to establish relations with Israel on the basis of friendship and common interests. Our mission is to prepare the ground for this strategic relationship by establishing channels of communication. We believe that Israel is not our enemy.

Is this positive attitude toward Israel a new phenomenon, or...