The images of Iranians around the world expressing support for Israel and its fight against Hamas, waving the flags of Iran from before the revolution and the flags of Israel together, do not surprise Dr. Thamar Eilam Gindin, who in an interview with Arutz Sheva says that the Iranian government is a common enemy of both Israel and the people of Iran.
"From their perspective, during the last protest in Iran in the last year, Israel was the one that stood by them, both the people and the government of Israel expressed support for the Iranian people," says Dr. Gindin and adds that "a distinction must be made between the Islamic Republic that supports the Palestinians, hates Israel and calls for its destruction, and the Iranian people."
"Iran is not an enemy of Israel. Iran and Israel have a common enemy called the Islamic Republic, which is more of an enemy of Iran than it is an enemy of Israel. Iranians abroad can express their support for Israel without risk, but we also see expressions of support from within Iran. I get a lot of support from Iran."
Eilam Gindin emphasizes that "it is not 100% and not all of them are of the same opinion, but we also receive a lot of support and love from people inside Iran. They say that they love Israel and the people of Israel and hate the Islamic Republic. Yesterday I published a video of a hijab-wearing woman from Iran condemning the Hamas attack on Israel and stating that since Ali Khamenei rose to power there has been no peace in the Middle East and she hopes that with the attack on Israel, they have closed their own case and this will be already over."
Dr. Eilam Gindin also receives many hopeful messages for mutual visits between Iran and Israel and assertions according to which "we are the best allies in the Middle East", and many messages of support and encouragement, to which she added the video of the audience in the stands of the soccer game who noticed two fans of the same team carrying a PLO flag. In response, the entire stadium chanted against them, posing a personal risk to each and every one of them.
She also tells about "a rally in support of the Palestinians that was organized by the government and almost no one showed up, there were drivers on the other side of the street who came to oppose the rally and honked their horns to express their opposition", this is about courage for which they can certainly pay a price, "think how many more there are who are afraid to express such opinions. Twelve girls were suspended from school because they did not participate in the celebrations and distribution of sweets for the attack against Israel."
She also adds and points out that things are not absolute and uniform. "It's true that on social networks you see both sides. There is also support for the Palestinians and not all of them hold the same views, there are many who share horrific images from Gaza, and some say they are our enemies. The government ran a campaign calling for people to “click” to express their willingness to be sent to Israel and millions of users clicked that they were ready to do this, but in reality, I mainly see support."
With regard to the statements threatening Israel published by the Iranian government, Eilam Gindin prefers not to predict how serious things are, although she cautiously assesses that this is lip service that does not receive real public support. "In the videos that come from Iran and show crowds of people, there is much more support for Israel."