A few weeks ago, I was honored to host His Highness Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah of Iran, and a leader and advocate of the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights for the Iranian people.
His recent visit was a symbolic renewal of the historic, natural and robust ties between the Iranian and Israeli peoples.
Our peoples do not just share a rich and vibrant history and fraternity, but also a common enemy in the extremist autocracy of the ayatollah regime.
It is this regime that spends its time, resources and funds murdering innocent people in the streets of Tehran, Isfahan, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Sanaa and many other places in the region and beyond.
It uses an iron fist to repress the Iranian people at home and utilizes terrorism, destruction and mayhem abroad for the singular reason of maintaining its vice-like grip on power to further and sow and its destructionist and extremist ideology.
We have directly witnessed this murderous ideology over the past week with the indiscriminate firing of well over 1,000 deadly rockets at Israeli communities by the Iranian proxy Islamic Jihad.
It is precisely this Machiavellian determination to shed blood that underpins the ayatollah regime, a regime spending untold amounts of money in furthering its capacity to create greater destruction and the massacre of innocents that is at the foundation of its thirst for a nuclear weapons capability.
Thankfully, we see the Iranian people rising up against this radical and terrorist regime that seeks to control every aspect of the lives of ordinary Iranians.
Zan, Zendegi, Azadi – Woman, Life, Freedom.
These are the cries we hear from the Iranian people here in Israel and around the world.
Israelis from all different backgrounds have joined together to support the Iranian people in their desperate plea for liberty. Thousands have demonstrated in Israel to send a message of hope and fraternity to the Iranian people in their struggle against tyranny.
As a traditional and observant Jewish woman, I stand in strong and righteous solidarity with the Iranian women in their protests against the forced wearing of the hijab.
We see our brothers and sisters in Iran and we know that their successful protests are panicking the ayatollah regime, which is flailing under the weight of deep institutional corruption, a plunging economy and a dated infrastructure that is not serving the people.
As it has been for so many others in the region, Israel has answers to help the Iranian nation face its greatest challenges, whether in the fields of fighting air pollution, renewable energy or water resources.
LESS THAN three years ago, Israel and many nations in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, proved that we will not let the past and others dictate a brighter future.
The Abraham Accords gave voice to a vision of a reshaped region that no longer pitted Jews against Muslims, but one that places the emphasis on those who wish to build a better future against those who just seek to destroy.
Now that these bridges between the Jewish state and Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been built or restored, steps are being taken on a weekly or monthly basis to ensure that all of the peoples of the region benefit from this peace and unity.
Wishing for a brighter future for Iran
In Israel, we know and see that the overwhelming majority of the people of Iran want to join hands with us to build a better future for themselves and their children, but we also know that the ayatollah regime leads the axis of destruction in our region.
This is amply demonstrated by the billions of dollars that could be used by the Ayatollah regime to build a better future and help ordinary Iranians who struggle to survive rather than funding its terrorist proxies, like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ansar Allah, Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
It is this axis that fights Israel and the Iranian people daily, and it does not care how much blood it must shed to achieve its desired regional dominance.
That is why the Iranian and Israeli peoples must stand together against our common enemy.
The Jewish people remember well how the historic Persian leader, Cyrus the Great, freed our ancestors from Babylonian captivity and helped them rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Now it is our turn to repay the favor by exploring ways to fight together against the modern tyranny of the ayatollah regime, freeing the Iranian people from its scourge and paving a better future for them, us, and all the other people in our region who are oppressed and molested by them and their proxies.
This is the commitment we make as we begin to renew ties between the Iranian and Israeli peoples.
The writer is Israel’s intelligence minister.