Iraq Announces Ban on Waze Navigation App Over Israeli Origins and Ongoing Gaza Conflict

Iraq has announced plans to ban the navigation app Waze starting next year due to its Israeli origins. Speaking to journalists in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad stated that while the app is widely used in Iraq, alternative services are available. When asked about the motivation behind the decision, he explained: "The reason is because it is made in Israel, therefore we will ban it at the beginning of 2027. The app is widely used in Iraq but there are alternatives, like Google Maps."

Following a wave of online mockery, Mustafa Sanad indicated in a separate post on his Facebook page that he would accelerate the ban to the end of this year. Waze, known for offering live, crowdsourced traffic data, was founded in Israel in 2008 before expanding globally. Google acquired the application in 2013 for approximately $1 billion to operate it as a subsidiary, though it maintains a presence in Tel Aviv.

The service is heavily utilized by drivers in Baghdad and other urban centers across Iraq for real-time traffic updates. Amid public criticism, Mustafa Sanad defended the measure on his Facebook account by connecting it to the war in Gaza. He asserted that Waze would be banned because it is a prominent Israeli application still managed by them, and because such tools assist with scanning Gaza while generating revenue and data for the company.

This announcement follows repeated demands from Iran-aligned politicians and groups in Iraq urging the boycott of Israeli-linked products and services since the onset of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Iraq maintains no diplomatic relations with Israel, and companies linked to Israel are barred from operating within the country, although certain digital services originating in Israel are now owned by US firms and remain accessible.

It remains unclear how the ban will be implemented, though authorities could instruct telecoms companies to block Waze servers or remove the application from app stores in Iraq. The minister's Facebook page quickly accumulated hundreds of critical and mocking responses, with users highlighting the connection between Waze and Google Maps.