Iran Election Demonstration from Tel Aviv Perspective

Soldiers from battalion 52, givati brigade, after taking the bank in Ness Tziona, 1948-1956, photographer: unknown, [www.pikiwiki.co.il] Attribution: ארכיון לתולדות רחובות

There is an unwritten agreement among countries when it comes to internal political strife: "don't tell me what to do and I will not tell you what to do". I guess this goes for these developed and civilized countries. The ones which fought hundreds of years ago when gentlemen made the rules and stuck by them. When it comes to political media sniping and gentleman's agreements its pretty safe to say that Israel and Iran are on the other side of this "don't tell me what to do" spectrum. Iran's leaders have used the media to attack Israel's politics so much that when you see a crowd of chanting Iranians following a leader's chant "... death to America, death to Israel..." most people just ignore this, after 30 years of the Iranian revolution it's not news any more. International TV news channels (CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera) run these videos as if they are meaningless. But in Tel Aviv it is not meaningless. Americans and Britons can take some comfort in distance and strength in numbers. It seems improbable that Iran would carry out on the chants 'death to America'. But with intermediaries like Hezbollah in Lebanon, it does not seem such a far fetched idea to be attacked - even if not killed by extremists in Iran. So the idea of "I am not going to tell you what to do" does not fit here. Israeli leaders have shied away from voicing their opinion in public. Many here think that this is a big mistake.

Why should Israeli leaders incite Iranian demonstrators? Why should Israel be on the side of changing a government in Iran? Because the election demonstrations in Iran is the best news Tel Avivians have heard from Iran in a long time. Why should it seem to most of us that fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon is OK but speaking out in the media is not? Does this make sense? No, it does not make sense. It also does not make sense to be silent about an oppressive Islamic government exporting it's hatred to Israel's borders left unchecked. Words may not influence Iran during peaceful times but these are not peaceful times in Iran. Israel wants to stay neutral, so far that has been one sided and it does not seem like Iran is going to stop using international media against Israel. Even without absolute proof, Iran has been supplying Hezbollah and Hamas with arms to use against Israel. It seems that this "I will not tell you what to do" equation is not balancing in the side of Israel. On the streets of Tel Aviv there is a split between these who think of achieving peace by simply being peaceful and these who feel that we need to defend ourselves against Iran and it's Palestinian intermediaries (Hezbollah and Hamas.)

The situation is a little more complex since US President Obama entered the scene. He was elected with the agenda of bringing a solution to the Israeli - Palestinian problem. To most outsiders that seemed like a good idea. From an outside perspective of US or Britain the situation here seem trivial. Obama probably thinks: [A] let the Palestinians declare a state, [B] give Israel more support in case the Palestinian government loses control over militant factions, [C] everybody goes home happy => [D] Obama/Clinton look great, take the credit, make the American public happy. What's wrong with this picture? A reality test in face of the fierce split among Palestinian factions and basically the Iranian support of Hisbollah and Hamas. No Arab leader, government or organization can be credible in assuring control over extreme factions' terrorizing Israel. So we are back to the first point, should Israel wish for Iranian government fall or even change in policy? If Iran's government falls or even alters it's support of intermediaries terrorizing Israel, than we can have the Obama scenario. Well, at least this is one scenario, hey a Tel Avivan can dream can't he? Let's wait and see what happens with the second Iranian revolution - oh sorry, election demonstration.