Protests in Tehran as seen from Israel
It's interesting to follow the Iran crisis through Israeli media. The war recent incident that directly involved both countries last June It did not resolve the total confrontation between Zionism and Shiism, which has lasted for decades. And now, the coincidence with the crisis in Venezuela adds some additional interest to what is happening.
The images and commentary broadcast by Hebrew television are often curious. At a large rally of opponents of the Tehran regime held this week in Paris, the demonstrators carried many Iranian flags, but there were also sizable Israeli flags. The alliance between the Iranian opposition and Zionism is evident.
Israeli activities in Iran are intense and nothing new. Israeli leaders boast of knowing what is happening in Iran in real time, and statements from Israeli ministers, always so inclined to speak out, are usually plentiful. Strangely, in these last ten days, all the ministers have been silent. There are no comments on the situation. Only Netanyahu has spoken, and even then, only briefly.
Tel Aviv newspapers report that the Defense Ministry has instructed ministers not to make statements about Iran, because their words serve the Tehran regime. Iranians accuse the United States, the Great Satan, and Israel, the Little Satan (though sometimes it's the other way around), of permanently destabilizing Iran, and statements from Benjamin Netanyahu's government reinforce these condemnations and allow Tehran to claim that the protests are orchestrated by Israel and the US.
Beni Sabti is a media-savvy Jewish man originally from Iran who works at one of the strategic think tanks proliferating in Israel, where the "studies" are about Iran. The other day, this career military officer made the following comment: "During the 1979 Islamic Revolution, many unveiled women took to the streets in support of the Islamists; in contrast, now we see veiled women protesting against the regime in the streets of Iranian cities."
The reason for the protests
Most Israeli experts following the situation in Iran agree that unless the protests increase substantially, the regime will not fall. The experts say the regime often misleadingly implies that the protests are economic, but while the economy is fundamental, the protesters chant political slogans against the regime.
They call these slogans pro-Shah, who lives in Washington, anti-Palestinian and anti-Lebanese Hezbollah slogans, and, of course, slogans against the top officials of the regime. It cannot be said that all of these slogans are economic in nature. The anti-Palestinian slogans also explain, at least in part, why anti-regime protesters in Europe carry Israeli flags.
Depending on how the crisis evolves, we will see consequences in one direction or another. The regime's considerations may change unexpectedly. One possible scenario is that the regime will lose patience. So far, the regime has timidly acknowledged some of the economic demands of the protesters and is not repressing the demonstrators with widespread violence. Despite more than twenty deaths, the government has ordered that only violent demonstrations be suppressed. But the regime could lose patience and become more violent. There would then be two possible scenarios: the protesters would withdraw from the streets, at least temporarily, or the protests would intensify and the regime would use more violence. In any case, the future is uncertain, especially after the message sent by the US intervention in Venezuela.