Предельно конфронтационные отношения Ирана и Израиля в отсутствие каких-либо реальных связей между ними являются достаточно известным феноменом нашего времени. СМИ ежедневно и ежечасно сообщают факты о новых проявлениях этой вражды, носящих не только
идеологический, но и вербальный характер. Особенно острые формы это
принимает в Исламской республике Иран. Лозунг “Марг бар Эсраиль!”
(Смерть Израилю!) стал в Иране непременным атрибутом любого политического мероприятия вне зависимости от того, связано ли оно с еврейским государством. Транспаранты с такой надписью тысячами реют над
толпами участников любых манифестаций. С приходом к власти в августе 2005 г. президента Махмуда Ахмадинежада этот лозунг в различных
вариациях озвучивается практически перманентно.
The article deals with the anti-Israel stance that forms an important component of Iranian president Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy. Anti-Israel declarations began to be voiced in Iran immediately after the victory of the Islamic
revolution. The establishment of the Jewish state and its subsequent recognition were regarded as disastrous for the Muslims by the late revolution’s leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He was the one that urged for the complete
destruction of Israel. Khomeini’s successor as the spiritual leader of the country, Ali Khamenei, is also well-known for his anti-Israel rhetoric. He called
Israel a cancerous tumor in the Middle East that had to be removed. When
the reformists took to power in the years 1997–2005, such stances directed against Israel were rare, and, addressing international and home audiences,
then president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami refrained from any declarations
of that kind.
Anti-Israel rhetoric was harnessed by the current Iranian president,
M. Ahmadinejad, mainly to seek wider support by the people of the country
and bring the nation together in the face of a foreign threat. As a long-standing
enemy, Israel fit well into the image. Anti-Israel rhetoric could be regarded as
unconditionally following Khomeini’s legacy, which is a winning strategy in
Iran. Moreover, a call to destroy Israel can both boost the solidarity of the Iranians and also provoke the condemnation of the entire world, the West being
at the forefront. That’s precisely what Ahmadinejad and his aides are looking
for. Following the naturally strong reaction of the world community, Iran can
pass off as the victim of an imperialistic Zionist conspiracy.
Anti-Israel sentiments have been haunting Ahmadinejad since his first
term of office becoming the major component of all of his foreign policy declarations. His recurring declarations have been to “wipe off Israel from the
global map”, to remove the Zionist tumor from the Middle East, and the like.
Not only has anti-Israel rhetoric intensified under Ahmadinejad, but it has also
acquired new forms and directions.
Lately, one of the most important of these has been the denial of the Holocaust and the attempts to link it to the problems of the Israel – PLO interaction. Those in Iran that deny the Holocaust find their own peculiar rationale to
justify their arguments publishing numerous articles in this connection.
By reinforcing anti-Israel rhetoric, Ahmadinejad has been attempting to
reach the goal set forth by Iran’s religious elite – to marginalize public opinions in order to retain power at the hands of the very conservative religious
leadership of the country.
