A recent controversy regarding a letter signed by 32 members of the Knesset that supported the Azeri minority in Iran has the potential to be used against Israel and be seen to undermine some of the protests against the regime in Tehran. Towards this end, many of those who signed were then convinced to rescind their signatures.
This unusual incident reflects the complexities of the Middle East and the position that Israel is in today as a country that has stronger ties throughout the region and is seen as playing a larger role in the Middle East’s affairs.
Throughout the history of Israel and prior to the creation of the state, the role of Zionism, and the Jewish people, there have been many cases where these kinds of controversies have erupted. For instance, during the decades leading up to the British-backed Balfour Declaration early Zionist officials had reached out to the Ottoman Empire and the German Kaiser with the hopes of securing backing for Jews who returned to the Land of Israel.
Powerful empires saw Jews as potentially serving their interests. Later, in the 1950s, when the young state of Israel was looking for friends globally, it worked with France and the UK in the lead-up to the 1956 war. This enabled enemies to frame Israel as a servant of colonial empires, a view the Soviets and Arab nationalists exploited.
On the other hand, the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East has often been seen as an inspiration and potential ally to other minorities in the region. Kurds, long oppressed by numerous countries, have often seen Israel as a potential friend. During the months before the independence referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2017 some people waved Israeli flags. The Iranian regime and other enemies of the referendum framed the referendum as backing a pro-Israel Kurdish state, a “second Israel” in the region.
Today the Iranian regime would also like to frame Israel as backing “separatists” or “terrorists” in Iran. It would also like to claim Israel wants to “dismember” Iran. Therefore when Israel, or some Israelis, are seen as backing minority groups in Iran, this can be used against the groups or against the opposition.
However, Iran is a country that has a large number of minority groups, including Azeris, Kurds, Baloch, and Arabs. The recent Iranian protests began last year after regime police murdered a Kurdish woman for not covering her hair. The protests adopted a Kurdish slogan, Woman, Life, Freedom.
Knesset members who signed a letter backing the Azeri minority did so on the eve of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen traveling to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan neighbors Iran and there is an Azeri minority that lives in northern Iran, near Azerbaijan. Israel and the country of Azerbaijan are close strategic partners. Iran has recently increased its rhetoric against Baku, accusing Azerbaijan of working closely with Israel. While Israel’s close ties to Baku come under the format of state-to-state relations, backing for Azeris inside Iran is potentially more controversial.
At the same time as the Foreign Minister’s trip to Baku, the son of the late Mohammed Reza Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was arriving in Israel. This meant that the letter backing Azeris in Iran came out at a complex time. Pahlavi has since condemned the letter. “The verbal assault on Iran’s territorial integrity by 32 members of the Israeli parliament is completely unacceptable and a service to the interests of the anti-Iranian Islamic Republic regime.”
Azeris and their quality of life in Iran
The support for Azeris in Iran is not necessarily linked to Israel-Azerbaijan relations.
However, Israel’s overall posture is that it is keen to understand Azerbaijan and therefore many are likely to be sympathetic to the Azeri community in general. Many Israelis, including politicians and average people, feel the same way about Kurds. However, that can mean that Israel can sometimes be called upon to back certain political groups, and it is not always in Israel’s interests to be linked to a certain group, as opposed to the larger community, or particular discussions about certain areas.
The Middle East is complex and it is easy to cause offense or appear to play into the hands of adversaries, even unintentionally. Israel knows this, but that doesn’t mean that every Knesset member is keyed into the wider geopolitical issues or perceptions, or even understands that certain terms may be twisted to mean something that was unintended.
The current controversy over the letter backing Azeris in Iran may end up being a tempest in a teapot. It may also be recalled as an example of how some see Israel as a monolith that can be easily encouraged to back one cause or another, without the understanding that Israel cannot be all things to all people. In essence, whereas it is in Israel’s interest that the Tehran regime stop its threats, Israel isn’t a magic wand for the opposition.
SETH J. FRANTZMAN
