JERUSALEM, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Most Kurds in northern Iraq want diplomatic ties with Israel, a poll indicated.
The poll was conducted in Erbil, capital Kurdistan, Maariv said Monday.
Seventy-one percent of respondents in the poll supported establishing diplomatic ties with Israel and only 9 percent objected to any ties with Israel. Sixty-seven percent said they viewed diplomatic ties with Israel as an important step toward establishing an independent Kurdistan, the newspaper said
Eighty-seven percent said they were aware of the deep historical ties between the peoples of Israel and Kurdistan, and 1.4 percent called on their government to establish economic and cultural ties with Israel.
One thousand male and female adults from the capital and other major cities participated in the poll the newspaper said.
Khadir Domili a researcher and journalist who initiated the poll, said it showed more than 68.4 percent of the participants believe the Kurds could benefit from ties with Israel, Maariv said.
