(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Dr. Dan Diker - The Islamic regime's desperation to survive has fueled an unprecedented antisemitic discourse targeting Jews inside Iran. Mosque hate speech has transferred into mainstream television programming. Religious leaders, military officials, intellectuals, artists, and celebrities have moved beyond "anti-Zionist" invective to anti-Jewish slander. Mohammad Khazali, the son of a prominent ayatollah, in a recent debate, blamed Jews for regime woes. The imam of the city of Qazvim excoriated Jews on a regime prime-time television talk show. Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Mohammed Jafar Assadi told a regime news station that the "cursed Jews" had wronged the entire Middle East since Oct. 7. When the interviewer asked, "Don't you mean Zionists?" He replied, "No, there is no difference between them." Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted on X: "They say that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxies in the region. Islamic Republic doesn't have proxy forces. Yemen fights due to their faith. Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so." To mask regime failures and vulnerabilities, the mullahs play on the public's fears. Regime manipulation and antisemitism signal a last-ditch effort to mobilize the Iranian public against its vulnerable Jewish community - as Iran stands more vulnerable and more desperate than at any time since the mullahs' rise to power in 1979. The writer is President of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2024-12-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive