[1] In 1981, Israel carried out Operation Opera in Ba'athist Iraq, in which the Israeli Air Force bombed and successfully destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor that was under construction at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre near Baghdad; the reactor had been attacked and partially damaged by Iran during its Operation Scorch Sword, which had been carried out a year prior to the Israeli strike amidst the Iran–Iraq War.

During the 1990–1991 Gulf War, Iraq carried out a missile campaign against Israel, in which it launched 42 modified Scud missiles (designated Al-Hussein) at Israeli cities with the strategic objective of provoking Israel into launching retaliatory attacks and potentially jeopardizing the multinational coalition formed by the United States against Iraq, which had full backing and extensive contributions from other Muslim-majority states; Israel did not respond to the Iraqi missile attacks due to American pressure, and Iraq failed to gather support for its occupation of Kuwait.

[4] Rabin had previously supervised Operation Bramble Bush, a failed 1992 plan to assassinate Hussein with Sayeret Matkal commandos.

[5] Saddam Hussein was widely revered in Arab world for his pro-Palestinian stance and he supported several Palestinian guerrilla and militant organisations.

[11] On 1 July 2008, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak shook hands and met briefly with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at a conference of Socialist International in Greece.

[15] The Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Islamic countries to cut relations with Israel and end all "secret and public talks" with it.

[16] In addition, the Iraqi Shia leader Ali al-Sistani has called for decisive action by Arab and Muslim states for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza.

[citation needed] After the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, an Iraqi government official, MP Khairallah al-Basri (a member of former premier Nouri al-Maliki's Islamist State of Law Coalition), condemned the attack and described it as a "new humanitarian disaster," as well as, "a violation of human rights and a breach of international standards and norms.

During the brief war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied world powers to prevent further setbacks for Iraqi Kurds.

[21] On 26 May 2022, the Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a bill put forward by Muqtada al-Sadr prohibiting the normalization of relations with Israel,[22] as well as "financial or moral assistance" to the country.

[29] In November 2023, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq began military operations against Israel, targeting Eilat, the Dead Sea coastline, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Karish gas field, Haifa, Ashdod, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Aviv and in Elifelet with drones and missiles.

Unnamed officials allegedly told outlets that satellites monitored the transfer of ballistic missiles and related equipment from Iran to Iraqi territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani warned that the letter served as pretext for an attack on Iraq, aligning with Israel's efforts to expand the war in the region.

[33][34] The Israeli security threat towards Iraq caused the Iraqi government to issue a statement that it would take all necessary diplomatic and military actions to protect its sovereignty.