When Israel's Best Friend, Iran Became Their Worst Enemy

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

                                             Haman's Folly

Most of us know the earlier story of when King Ahasueros and Queen Esther saw that the king's Viceroy, Haman, had started the holocaust against the Jews of Persia.  That was Haman's fury because he didn't like the Queen's uncle, Mordecai.  He thought Mordecai was too uppity.  The scene was then set.  Esther found out about it and told the king and the king, now knowing that Esther herself was Jewish, put an end to Mordecai by hanging him.

Book of Esther Characters; Ahasueros, Vashti-1st but dismissed queen, Esther, Mordecai, Haman.  Esther was a Jewish woman who lived in Persia during the period following the destruction of the First Holy Temple, which was in 586 BCE when many Jews had been taken as slaves to Babylonia, which was subsequently overtaken by Persia. She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (ארתחששתא),1 king of Persia.  Jews returned 50 years later to rebuild the Temple.  

In the Book of Esther, we read that the Jews living in exile who were kidnapped and taken by the Babylonians in 597 BCE and more taken again in 586 BCE and were living in  the 127 provinces  of the Persian Empire.                                     

They, and those left in Israel were all under Persian rule and had been ever since King Cyrus II the Great in 538 BCE had taken over land Assyrians had held,  which lasted for the next 200 years.  By Esther's day, Jews were numerous and influential in the capital of Susa (Shushan). Cyrus died in 529 BCE.  In 538 BCE he granted permission to the exiles of Judah in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.  The Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus as a Divine agent for turning out to be a kind king.  In fact,, he is thought to be the grandson or son of Esther.   

 There had even been another Jewish Queen, Shushan Dukhit.  Shushandukht (Middle Persian: was the wife of Yazdegerd I.   Yazdegerd I was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III, he succeeded his brother Bahram IV after the latter's assassination. Yazdegerd I's largely-uneventful reign is seen in Sasanian history as a period of renewal.   Shushan was also the  mother of Bahram V. She was the daughter of a Jewish exilarch, Huna bar Nathan. She created the Jewish neighborhood in the city of Isfahan. She also established Jewish colonies in the cities of Shush (Susa) and Shooshtar. The existence of a Jewish queen enhanced the life of Persian Jews and during this period Jewish exilarchs had regular attendance to the Shah's court. The Iranologist, Ernst Herzfeld, (1879–1948) speculated that the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in the city of Hamedan might be the tomb of Shushandukht. Could she be Esther's daughter?                       

Zoroastrian influence then came along, trying to put an end to Jewish observances that brought out much persecution against Jews in 468-57 BCE. Zoroastrianism dates back to the 6th century BCE. Founded in ancient Persia, it likely influenced the development of Judaism and predates both Christianity and Islam.                                      

                               Hajji Firuz on the Chalous Road

Firuz from 459-486 CE caused more persecutions against Jews.  2 magi were murdered in Isfahan (the capital then)  and this was blamed on the Jews as the city had a large Jewish population.  Jews finally joined a revolt led by Mar Zutra II in 513-520 CE.  Mar-Zutra II was a Jewish Exilarch who led a revolt against the Sasanian rulers in 495 CE and achieved seven years of political independence in Mahoza. Mar-Zutra II became Exilarch of the Jewish community in Babylon at the age of fifteen in 483 CE, twelve years before the revolt.

   Persian art of Jews-Now a special exhibition, “Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews,” on view at the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City, provides insight into the fascinating history of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. The show features more than 100 objects that document the life of Iran’s Jewish community from ancient times to the present—archaeological artifacts, illuminated manuscripts, amulets, musical instruments, textiles, paintings and photographs.

By the 19th century, Jews of Persia were among the most depressed of the world's Jewish communities, not withstanding  the diplomatic interventions occasionally secured by Western Jewry, and intermittent premises of ameliorations (improvements)  by successive shahs  were overlooked.  In 1839, Muslims attacked the Jews of Meshhed, murdering 36 of them, and forcing the conversion of the rest. .Starting in 1898, schools of the Alliance Israelite Universelle did something to introduce a more modern spirit;  but progress was slight and the Jedid al-Islam (The Jewish "New Muslims" of Meshhed) did not dare to return openly to Judaism.                                   

For years, Israel maintained close political, economic, and security relations with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah took the title Shahanshah ("King of Kings") on 26 October 1967 and held several other titles. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, b: Oct. 26, 1919 in Tehran; d: 27 July 1980 in Cairo, Egypt.  

Israel purchased a significant portion — and in some years all — of its oil from the Shah’s regime, while Iran used Israel as a middleman to sell its oil to third countries. The alliance over oil required that Israel and the Shah ensure the safety of shipping routes. This strengthened their partnership in the struggle against Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser’s repeated attempts to promote ideological and military alliances throughout the Middle East that were hostile to Iran and Israel, particularly in the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula.   

The switch from Persia to Iran happened in 1935 when the Shah of Persia, Reza Shah, asked the international community to start calling the country Iran rather than Persia. He even went as far as going to the League of Nations and asking them specifically to start referring to the nation he ruled as Iran.

U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi  U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi shaking hands at Washington National Airport upon the shah's arrival on Truman's presidential airplane, November 16, 1949.The Harry S. Truman Library/NARA

Private and state-owned Israeli companies, ranging from textiles, agriculture, electrical appliances, water, fertilizers, construction, aviation, shipping, gas, tires and even dentures, had been operating extensively in Iran. In some years, Iran was one of the main destinations for Israeli exports. Meanwhile, Israeli academia also enjoyed relatively extensive cooperation with academics in Iran.

The Shah never officially recognized Israel.  Jews began to emigrate to Israel after 1948.  Iran de facto recognized the State of Israel in March 1950, but in light of internal pressure by those who opposed Israel and the Shah’s pro-Western and pro-American policies — as well as external pressure by Arab states — Iran avoided officially recognizing Israel.

The Shah did have “secret” representation in Tel Aviv beginning in 1961, and Israel had permanent representation in Tehran, which at one point became an embassy that included military attachés. Due to the sensitive nature of the agreement, Israeli representatives in Iran generally refrained from conducting relations with the Shah regime through bureaucrats in the Foreign Ministry and other government ministries. Instead, it carried out its business through a narrow circle of Shah loyalists and politicians, as well as the top echelons of Iran’s defense establishment. Sometimes those relations were conducted directly with the Shah himself and his Royal Court minister.

Equality of political rights was introduced by the Shah,  to the Jews of Iran. The social and economic status of Jews changed little.  In the 1960s and 1970s, many Jews moved from the provinces to Teheran.                                 

The 1979 Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various leftist and Islamist organizations.

   Everyone had to contend with the 1st  Ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini.  Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known as Ayatollah Khomeini, who was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989.

In 1988, Iranian authorities, acting on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, summarily and extrajudicially executed thousands of political prisoners across the country. The number of executions is not definitively known, but according to estimates from former Iranian officials and lists compiled by human rights and opposition groups, Iranian authorities executed between 2,800 and 5,000 prisoners in at least 32 cities in the country.  

Then Khomeini didn't start persecuting the Jews after their revolution in 1978, but many felt very uncomfortable  under the strict Islamic regime and left for Israel and the West.  The Jewish numbers fell from 80,000 in 1978 to 20,000 in 1989.  I know of a whole group of teen-aged boys who left on camels who left their parents and their goal was to get to either place.  The one I know made it to the USA and with a Jewish group's help, became a doctor. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over on 4 June 1989.  

  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Former President of Iran, riding on a rocket meant to hit Israel.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, born Mahmoud Sabbaghian, is an Iranian conservative politician who served as the 6th president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He was known for his hardline views and nuclearisation of Iran.

  Since 1985, Iran and Israel have been engaged in an ongoing proxy conflict that has greatly affected the geopolitics of the Middle East, and has included direct military confrontations between Iranian and Israeli organizations, such as in the 2006 Lebanon War.  Iran has taken over the states near Israel so that they are closer to attacking Israel. Iran has been alleged to have founded and funded Hezbollah, a relationship that some say continues to this day in an apparent nexus with Syria. During the 2006 Lebanon War, between the state of Israel and Hezbollah, Iran came out in firm support of Hezbollah in particular, and Lebanon in general. They serve Iran's goal of destroying Israel. Following Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's visit to Tehran in 2008 and the signing of a military and economic agreement between the two countries, formal military ties were encouraged. So Iran has a foot in Syria and Lebanon, the proxies.  

  An Ayatollah wheeling and dealing with Putin of Russia

 Ahmadinejad did nothing but threaten Israel verbally.  Iran has let it be known that that they are preparing bombs with nuclear energy that will be delivered either from close proximity or from Iran on a missile.  They are doing everything they can in preparation to wipe out Israel.  In 2007 he said Israel was the flag of Satan.  Ahmadinejad, who triggered outrage in the West two years ago when he said Israel should be “wiped off the map”, has often referred to its destruction but says Iran is not a threat.  He said the Lebanese and the Palestinians had pressed a “countdown button” to bring an end to the state of Israel.  Iran’s clerical leaders have branded the USA as“the Great Satan.” 

While Ahmadinejad has said Iran is not a threat to Israel, Iranian officials have said Tehran would respond swiftly to any Israeli attack. Some analysts have speculated Israel may try to knock out Iran’s atomic sites.  No kidding, Iran.  Israel is prepared.  

To sum it up, Cyrus was Israel's best friend, maybe even a relative.  Then it was the Shah who dealt with with Israel. The revolution happened in 1978 when Jimmie Carter (1977-1981) was the USA president.   Menachem Begin was Prime Minister of Israel then.  He took over on the 21st of June 1977.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajji_Firuz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar-Zutra_II

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15307-zutra-mar-ii

https://www.amazon.com/Jadid-al-Islam-Muslims-Folklore-Anthropology/dp/0814326528

https://www.972mag.com/israel-shah-iran-dictatorship/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Reza-Shah-Pahlavi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Israel_relations#:~:text=Since%201985%2C%20Iran%20and%20Israel,in%20the%202006%20Lebanon%20War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

https://historyofyesterday.com/when-did-persia-become-iran-b10d639f5b71