Iranian Parliament Bans Work With Israel as War Against God

By Aaron Kliegman

Iran’s parliament on Monday approved legislation branding cooperation with Israel as a form of warfare against God for which perpetrators will be severely punished.

The measure is part of a larger, antisemitic bill, which Iranian legislators supported unanimously, that outlines steps to confront “the hostile acts of the Zionist regime against peace and security.”

One of the steps is to ban any cooperation with Israel or institutions and individuals affiliated with the Jewish state, including the use of Israeli hardware and software.

The first article of the bill says that all Iranian national organizations “are required to use the country’s regional and international capacities to confront the Zionist regime’s measures,” according to Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, an Iranian parliamentary spokesman.

The legislation adds that Iran will oppose Israel’s “warmongering and terrorist moves” in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights, accusing the Jewish state of committing atrocities against the Palestinians and occupying Palestinian land. Indeed, the text underlines Iran’s position that Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, not Israel, and that Israel must be removed from what Tehran considers Palestinian territory.

One measure of the bill tasks the Iranian government with preventing any Middle Eastern or Muslim country from normalizing ties with Israel and outlining “the ‘Zionism worse than Apartheid’ mindset across various international organizations.”

Other clauses require the Islamic Republic to make the necessary arrangements to form a “virtual embassy in Palestine” and “submit the results for approval to the cabinet,” and to establish a special committee on supporting a Palestinian intifada.

Last week, when Iran’s parliament approved the “double-urgency” of the anti-Israel motion, several legislators chanted, “Down with Israel.”

Parliament passed the bill ahead of Quds Day, which Iran’s Islamist regime marks each year by holding rallies at which Iranians call for Israel’s destruction and express support for the Palestinian cause. This year, the anti-Semitic event will take place on Friday, May 22 and largely be online because of the coronavirus.

The bill also passed after Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, called Israel a “rapid, predatory dog” over the weekend and accused the Jewish state of massacring women and children in a series of anti-Semitic tweets. Then on Monday, Khamenei tweeted that the West Bank must be armed just like Gaza, where the terrorist group Hamas is in power. He went on to describe Israel as a “usurping, evil, wolf-like entity.”

Iranian media echoed Khamenei’s anti-Semitic sentiments. Fars News, for example, called Israel a “cancerous gland” and Zionism a “virus” as part of an article claiming that the attempted burning of the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Iran was part of a Zionist plot (with the help of Saudi Arabia) to control international media.

Parliament’s newly approved law, Khamenei’s tweets, and the Iranian media’s claims all fit with the regime’s broader anti-Semitic ideology. Indeed, Iran’s hatred of Israel and Zionism — and its mission to destroy both — is a clear example of anti-Semitism. The regime demonizes and spreads conspiracy theories about Jews, seeking to eradicate a key component of Jewish identity, the Jewish national homeland. If the Iranian parliament’s latest bill is any indicator, Tehran is intent on escalating this fight with the Jewish people.