How did it get this bad? Iran’s descent into genocidal ambitions and peculiar hatred of Israel

The people of Israel and the people of Persia used to be friends, as many have been pointing out, including the son of exiled Shah, Reza Pahlevi, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, before the Islamic Revolution, there was once trust between the two countries, a new video by Kan News reveals.

It was Persian King Cyrus who set the Jewish exiles free in the 5th century B.C. after they had been held hostage for 70 years in Babylon. Many Jews stayed and there was a thriving Jewish community in Iran going back some 2,500 years, continuing until the 1970s. Indeed, relations were quite cordial until relatively recently. Now it’s hard to imagine what Jewish life might be like in Iran, as the ruling regime constantly beats the drum of genocide, calling for the death of Israel at every opportunity.

How did we get here?

Prior to the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s, the relationship between Iran and Israel was very different. Instead of denying the Holocaust, Iran’s chief of staff came to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. 

Then-IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin welcomed his Iranian counterpart, as is explained toward the end of the video, presenting a menorah as a gift. The Iranian dignitary was invited to examine the Israeli Uzi, which later became the weapon of the Shah of Iran’s bodyguards. There was collaboration and even arms trading.

“And then, in 1976, it begins to shape the deal of all deals,” the video explains. “This deal is a huge one, and its code name is “Tzur,” and it involved the joint construction of a project for the production of long-distance missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons in Iran near Isfahan, where today stands the conversion facility of the Iranian nuclear project.

Fortunately, the Islamic Revolution occurred before the Israel-friendly government under the Shah had the opportunity to make much progress with this weapons program. 

“If Khomeini hadn’t done Israel the favor and come to power in February 1979, but let’s say in February 1981, Iran would have fallen into his hands already armed with long-range surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, able to reach from Iran to Israel – provided to Iran by Israel,” the video states.

Iran quickly turned from an ally to become a sworn enemy of Israel. On Feb. 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini declared the establishment of the Islamic Republic, taking Iran and the world in a new direction. 

Prof. Meir Litvak, head of the Department of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University (TAU) explains, “Khomeini, who must be said was also a true antisemite, talks about an alliance between the West, between the Jews whose purpose is to fight Islam.”

Prof. Uzi Rabi, head of the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at TAU noted how Israel became the ideological rival of the Iranian regime.

“When the Islamic Republic wanted to show how the new regime in Iran differed from the deposed Shah, from the United States of America, it came and said: 'We are against Israel'. And as revolutions go, also in Iran, right after consolidating their rule, the Ayatollahs sought to export the revolution, to become a role model, a magnet for the Muslim masses in the Middle East.” 

Seeking regional dominance, the ayatollahs sought to spread the Islamic Revolution to as many places in the Middle East as possible, according to Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilboa. The power was flexed in two dimensions, religious and political-military. “Iran set itself a goal: to be the landlord of the Fertile Crescent.”

It wasn’t long before Iran clashed with neighboring Sunni Iraq under Saddam Hussein. 

“The 'Iranian threat' – it's a term we first heard not in Hebrew,” Gilboa explains. “Do you know in what language? In Arabic. The Iranian threat. It came from Saudi Arabia, from the Gulf states, from Egypt – this perception that the Persians are coming, the Shiites are coming, it's something traumatic in Arab memory. Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, and it was a bloody war. Hundreds of thousands dead, millions injured on both sides. Saddam Hussein, who spared no means, rained chemical weapons on them, and they had no answer to it.”

Eyal Zisser, professor of Middle Eastern History and Vice Rector at TAU adds his perspective: “The Iranian nuclear project began, in fact, from the trauma left in Iran by the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. They came out of that war with the realization that they needed to develop capabilities to protect themselves. And with this package – burdened with traumatic history, a desire for regional hegemony, and an inherent hostility toward the West and Israel at its core – Iran embarks on the mission of its life: building a nuclear infrastructure. It saw what happens to those without nuclear weapons.”

Israel was the convenient scapegoat every revolution needs. The daily chant of “Death to Israel!” soon became the rallying and unifying cry of the Islamic Revolution.

“They rant against Israel, and when they have an economic problem, they say it’s because of Israel, and when they have problems with the United States, they say it’s because of Israel,” Prof. David Menashri, founder of TAU's Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, explained.

Taking it further, Prof. Rabi says, “In this perception, Israel is not a state. It is more of an essence – a symbol of evil.”

The slow and persistent determination to undermine the foundations of Zionism became endemic, and the scourge of Holocaust denial began to take deep root. The erosion of Israel’s right to exist ideologically was accompanied by the determination to wipe Israel off the map in a very real and physical way. The regime’s nuclear ambitions were in full swing.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared, “With the help of Allah, the sons of Lebanon and Palestine have pressed the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime. Inshallah, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future.”

“When we exposed Iran’s secret nuclear archive, we proved that the entire nuclear agreement with Iran is built on one big lie,” says Benjamin Netanyahu. “Now even Iran admits it.” After waiting and warning for many years, Israel finally took action before it became too late. 

Today, as the IDF is systematically destroying the nuclear capacity of the Iranian regime, along with key personnel, we are standing on the threshold of a new chapter of Iranian-Israeli relations. With much of the radical hatred of the Islamic regime's top leadership gone, there’s reason to hope that the enmity of the last 45 years may give way to a renewed friendship between Israel and the people of Persia.