Recently, I wrote a book titled "Ayoob Kara: The Man Behind the Abraham Accords," which will hopefully be published soon. In this book, Ayoob Kara, who served as Israel's Communication Minister under PM Benjamin Netanyahu, told me that he helped to bring Bahraini Princess Fatima Ben Khalifa, the wife of Bahraini Minister Ahmad Ben Khalifa, to Israel to get medical treatment: "She was extremely sick. Her life was very much in danger." In 2010, Kara approached Netanyahu regarding this. He did not accept the idea at first, fearing what could happen if she dies. But after one day of Kara pushing him, he agreed and this act saved the life of the Bahraini princess.
The Bahraini Minister asked what he could do in return. Kara told him that he wants him to support the Jewish community in Bahrain and to help Israel to make peace. He said, "we will see" and went back to Bahrain. According to Kara, "After that, I heard that everything got better for the Jewish community in Bahrain. One Jewish woman became a minister in the government of Bahrain and one of the important guys in the Jewish community became an economic advisor to the president. They began a new relationship between us and the Jews all over the world."
This ultimately led to Bahrain hosting talks surrounding Trump's Deal of the Century, the Abraham Accords, the Sons of Abraham Alliance, and the peace treaty getting signed between Bahrain and the State of Israel. In other words, it was medicine that led to the successful establishment of peace between Israel and Bahrain.
Now, Israel has a historic opportunity to help a Kurdish child from Iraq to get medical treatment in Israel. AAK, an elementary school-age child from Erbil, suffers from swelling in the kidneys and other serious health problems, which cannot be treated in Iraq. He is at risk of losing his kidneys and his life. Kurdish author Karzan Kirkuki related: "His dad is a university professor at the University of Soran. He defended Iraqi Jews who left behind properties after they were expelled from Iraq in the Iraqi media. He said that it is the Jewish right to reclaim their property or get compensation for everything that they lost. This man only has one son. If he lost him, it would be very sad for him. His mother was also a professor in university and she stopped teaching in the university just to take care of their son, and this affected their income."
Nevertheless, Ameera Kara, the CEO and co-founder of Israel International Medicare, an organization that seeks to bring patients from the Arab world and some African countries to Israel for medical treatment, stressed that so far despite all of A's father's positions and the plight of the child she has failed to get him a visa: "I tried to help him through my connections through the hospitals. I spoke to Sheba Hospital. They said they could help him. I contacted a foundation to help him, as we knew how much the treatment would cost. So, I spoke to a Jerusalem NGO and they agreed to help his case. The problem is that we have a lot of problems with getting him a visa. In the beginning, I thought it was because of corona. Then, I understood it wasn't."
According to her, "In the last year, I tried several times to speak to the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. No one could really help us. So, Karzan told the family and they were very disappointed. For them, coming to Israel was their last hope. We wanted to use this to open more doors to diplomatic relations through him. I think it would be helpful if we could do that. I tried through many connections. I spoke to several politicians and they were not able to help. Even when we ask why they do not give a visa, they do not have an answer. A visa would be life-saving and it would open more doors to Israel."
Ameera Kara stressed that she believes that the road to Middle East peace travels through medicine and technology: "Patients and the common citizen see how Israel is fighting against Iran. We are in this together against radical Islamism and Iran. Although we do not want any politics to interfere in medicine, it is the first door to enter Iraq and I hope through that to bring peace to the Middle East and especially to Israel."
Kirkuki concurred, stressing that the Kurds are among the few nations in the Middle East that love the Jewish people and Israel: "Based on that relationship, we wish that Israel do something for the Kurds, just to make that relationship stronger and more visible to Kurdish people. Providing medical treatment is the ideal way to help Kurdish people because it is very hard for the Kurdish people to get visas to Europe and America. Since Israel has the same quality medical treatment as Western countries, we wish for Israel to open a gate to help patients from Kurdistan. That will make that relationship stronger. We have so many people like A, but there is no treatment for these people."
He concluded: "Also, we will make the Kurdish view towards Israel more positive than before. Kurdish people are surrounded by Arabs, Persians and others who hate the Kurds. We feel as Kurds that the Jewish people and Israel are the only country and nation that loves Kurds. This will also make the relationship between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Israeli government stronger. Iran wants the Kurdistan Regional Government to be weak and unstable, without the ability to treat cases like this poor kid. However, the best way to stand up to Iran's hatred is to help this poor Kurdish child."
Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist. She is also the author of "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media."
