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Adam Zivo: Israelis hate the Islamic regime, but love Iranians

The affection felt between Jews and the Iranian people is real and strong

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TEL AVIV — Should war erupt between the United States and Iran — a prospect that now seems probable, even imminent — Israel will undoubtedly be pummelled with missiles. Yet, in Tel Aviv at least, many Israelis feel nothing but affection for the Iranian people themselves, who are widely perceived as co-victims of Tehran’s Islamic regime.

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“The Iranian people are, I think, the bravest people in the world today, especially the women, I have to say, because they’re fighting alone with no weapons. They’re fighting for freedom,” said Myriam Azogui-Halbwax, Mission Director of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), outside a Tel Aviv cafe on Sunday.

Adam Zivo: Israelis hate the Islamic regime, but love Iranians Back to video

She said that Israeli “hearts are bleeding” for the Iranians, who are being killed and tortured by the Islamic regime, and that the “entire country” is supportive of their struggle and “ready to create this new region, this new Middle East, where we can finally live in peace as neighbours… even if we have to pay a price for that.”

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“We stand with you, and we don’t want Iranian people to be hurt in this war. Same way, we don’t want Israeli people to be hurt in this war, but we know, and you know, that war is not a picnic,” she said.

Her words were not unexpected.

During the Twelve-Day War last June, I spoke with dozens of Israelis in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and none of them —  not a single person — disparaged the Iranian people, even as ballistic missiles exploded in the skies above. They all despised the Islamic regime, yet described Iran as an ancient, sophisticated and educated nation.

It was apparent, as I interviewed pedestrians in Tel Aviv this Sunday on behalf of The News Forum, that these sentiments had not changed.

“We have this bond with the Iranian people. We’re very good friends,” said 34-year old activist Jessica Cohen, who characterized the regime as a foreign occupier that “conquered” Iran and now treats its citizens as “hostages.”

Like many Israelis, she emphasized the historical importance of Cyrus the Great, a tolerant Persian king who, upon conquering the ancient Near East, liberated the then-exiled Jews from Babylonian captivity and allowed them to return to their homeland to build their Second Temple.

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Cyrus the Great acts as a cultural bridge between Jews and Iranians, being exalted by both nations for his benevolent empire-building.

Cohen also explained that, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, many Iranian Jews fled to Israel and brought their traditions, language and cuisine with them. With Iranians now accounting for two-three per cent of the Israeli population, Persian heritage is an “intrinsic” part of the country’s “melting pot” of Middle Eastern communities.

Cohen said that she looked forward to the day when Iranians and Israelis will be able to freely visit each other again: “Listen, it’s happening. The Iranian regime is going to go. Either you guys are making it happen through the protest, or we, or the (United States), are making the Iranian regime fall.”

Two older women — Mira and Nurit — were similarly sympathetic toward the Iranians, whom they considered victims of an “evil” and Nazi-like Islamic regime.

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“We’re with you, with the Iranian people. We are so sorry for you. We hope for you for a better days,” said Nurit, a third-generation Iranian-Israeli Jew. She said that she wants Iranians to know that Israelis love them, and that she knows many Iranian-Israelis who, maintaining contact with family members in Iran, “feel very bad for what’s going on there.”

She believed that Israelis and Iranians share many values, including a desire for freedom and peace: ”We hope to see them here in the beach of Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem.”

Her friend, Mia, wanted U.S. President Donald Trump to “finally” strike the regime so that the Iranians can have their freedom: “Of course, there will be victims, but this is for the next generations.”

Hen Kinan, an Israeli marketing professional, said that his wife’s Iranian parents fled after the Islamic revolution, and that “they’re just like me.” He felt that Persian culture, including food and music, is “embedded” into his life, and, having heard “so many good things” about pre-revolutionary Iran, sees the Iranian people as “advanced” and knowledgeable of “civil rights,” as opposed to the “darkness” of the regime.

“I think there is only love, and our hand is completely reached out to them,” he said.

This sense of fraternity seems reciprocal, at least in the Iranian diaspora.

Many Jewish-Canadians have said that, after October 7, the Iranian community was among the few allies that could be counted on to stand up against antisemitism and radical Islamism. Not only are Iranian flags a common sight at pro-Israeli events, every Free Iran rally I’ve attended this year has been dotted with Israeli flags, sometimes held by Iranians themselves, while eliciting no discernible pushback (this fact is, however, invariably omitted from much of the mainstream coverage).

Ironically, it’s arguable that the safest place to wave an Israeli flag in Canada is within the midst of the Iranian community.

The longstanding friendship between Jews and Iranians is sometimes lost on westerners, who are prone to conflate nations with governments. Yet, whether in Tel Aviv or Toronto, there seems to be a yearning for inter-community unity, and an exhaustion with the Islamism that has inflicted so much suffering on both peoples.

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