Iran’s Conflict with Israel: A Dangerous Spiral of Violence in the Middle East

Where did the animosity between Iran and Israel come from?

The acrimony between the two countries is not rooted in a long, bellicose history. It began as a propaganda project of the Iranian Revolution, which put an end to the country’s monarchy in 1978-79.

Under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran became one of the first countries to recognize Israel in 1948. The secret services of the two countries cooperated, and both states were united by their distance to their Arab neighbors. The young country of Israel helped Iran develop its agricultural sector and bought oil from the country.

Historian David Menashri, 79, was born as the son of Jewish parents in Tehran before emigrating with his parents to Israel, but he also spent several years in Iran in the 1970s. At that time, he says, the two countries had a relationship “like a marriage without a license” – a rapport that was shaped by religion from the very beginning. On the one hand, both countries considered themselves to be “chosen by God” by virtue of their long histories, says Menashri. But on the other, anti-Semitism had a long history in Iran.

There was, for example, a rule according to which Iranian Jews were not allowed to leave their homes when it was raining, because they were considered najis, ritually unclean, and water dripping off of them would allegedly impurify the streets. The shah, says Menashri, knew that he couldn’t be particularly open about his ties with the Israelis. The Israeli Embassy in Tehran did not fly the country’s flag and while the airline El Al had daily flights to the Iranian capital, those flights were not publicly displayed at Mehrabad Airport.

It was revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini who declared Israel to be “Little Satan.” The designation “Great Satan” was reserved for the U.S., which had provided the shah with military support for years. Kohmeini accused Israel of being an “enemy of Islam” and declared an annual Al-Quds Day, calling for the liberation of Jerusalem – though during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Khomeini had no compunctions about importing arms from Israel through secret channels. Israel’s leadership likewise kept open the possibility of resuming closer cooperation with Iran at some point in the future. For Khomeini, the Jewish state was a useful tool for whipping up the fervor of his followers. “If Israel hadn’t existed,” says David Menashri, “his regime would have had to invent it.”
Original News : https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/irans-conflict-with-israel-a-dangerous-spiral-of-violence-in-the-middle-east-a-1146e5cf-6010-43c7-81f2-37e467611e6d#ref=rss