Their ties are rooted in Israel's historically strong support for the Kurdish people and their long-running desire for self-determination and national independence in Kurdistan.

The majority of Iraq's Jewish population fled to Israel from the late-1940s onwards, and did so via Kurdistan with support from neighbouring Iran and the newly independent Israeli state.

Among the groups in the policy were the Kurds, who not only were the largest non-Arab population in the region, but also resided over a strategic territory in the Arab-majority state of Iraq, which had taken part in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

[9] Israel began aiding the Kurdish Peshmerga against the Iraqi state during the First Iraqi–Kurdish War, which lasted from 1961 to 1970 and resulted in the signing of the Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement.

Israeli support for Kurdish forces in Iraq remained largely secretive and the existence of any relationship between the two sides was reportedly denied by Israel to the United States.

[12] Israel and Iran also helped to form the Kurdish intelligence agency Parastin, which engaged in various espionage operations against the Iraqi military.

In May 1965, deputy-director of Mossad David Kimche and Israeli military chief Tzvi Tzur visited Kurdistan, where they met with Barzani in the town of Haji Omeran.

[7] The Israelis wanted to continue supporting the Kurds and had spent the preceding years pressuring the United States to increase its military assistance as a means to do so.

In June 2004, Seymour Hersh wrote an article for The New Yorker wherein he claimed that Israel was supporting the Kurds militarily to counteract Iranian proxy groups and that Israeli intelligence operatives were present in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

[23] In 2005, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Kurdistan had received a large amount of Israeli-manufactured equipment and that Motorola Israel and Magal Security Systems was training the Peshmerga while employing former Israeli soldiers.

[25] Israeli officials stated that the country was keen on strengthening ties with the Kurdistan Region to broaden its options for energy supplies.

"[28] After the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum resulted in a 93 percent pro-independence vote, Iraqi forces retook a large portion of Kurdish-held territories.

The founding director of IsraAid Shahar Zahavi told Arutz Sheva that the Israeli humanitarian team was warmly received by the residents and refugees of the Kurdistan Region.