Iranian dissidents, expats to visit Israel in ‘solidarity’ delegation.
By Sharon Wrobel, The Algemeiner
A group of Iranian expatriates, including former political prisoners, will visit Israel this week to express their support with Israeli citizens after the recent clashes with Iran-sponsored Palestinian terrorist groups.
The group of Iranians, who will arrive in Israel for a four-day visit on Monday will meet with Israeli officials in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and a number of other locations near the borders with Syria and the Gaza Strip.
The mission seeks to “rekindle millenia-old ties between the people of Iran and Israel in defiance of the Islamic Republic’s ongoing genocidal antisemitism,” stated iVOL, which organized of the delegation.
It will be accompanied by several Iranian dissidents as well as ex-Trump administration officials, including Victoria Coates, former US deputy national security advisor; Ellie Cohanim, former US deputy special envoy to combat antisemitism; and Len Khodorkovsky, a former deputy assistant secretary and senior adviser at the State Department.
“Last summer, the Abraham Accords demonstrated the growing potential for peace in the Middle East, and resulted in greater security and prosperity for Israel and several Muslim-majority neighbors. The people of Iran deserve to participate in the resulting security and prosperity as well, despite the hostile, antisemitic policies of the regime in Tehran,” commented Coates.
“iVOL was one of the earliest advocates for the Cyrus Accords, a future peace deal between a democratic Iran and the Jewish state of Israel inspired by Cyrus the Great. This iVOL mission is an important step toward realizing that vision, once the Islamic Republic joins so many other ruthless, authoritarian regimes on the ash heap of history,” she continued.
The Cyrus Accords, an initiative proposed by Coates and Khodorkovsky, calls for a normalization deal similar to that brokered under the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations. Iran was the second Muslim-majority nation to recognize Israel as a sovereign state in the 1950s, after Turkey.
“We are bringing the first Iranian delegation to Israel next week, soon inshallah a Lebanese delegation,” Cohanim said.
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