In Iran, Pro-Israel Spirit Spreads Among Imprisoned Activists

Inside some of Iran’s worst prisons, jailed anti-regime activists reveal they are very pro-Israel.

By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel

Inside Iran’s prisons, “many of the anti-regime activists were very pro-Israel, on the basis of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend,’ and would say things like ‘I love Israel’ or ‘I wish Israel would bomb Iran,’” an individual with access to the information recently told Fox News.

The source told Fox about an Iranian prisoner who had allegedly been given a five-year sentence for the crime of merely being in touch with people in Israel. Iranian government officials tracked down individuals like this from comments they post online expressing sympathy for or interest in Israel.

The forum appears on a Farsi-language website about Israel that was set up by an Israeli NGO trying to reach out to regular Iranians.

While some of these Iranians were locked away for the sole “crime” of being connected with anything Israeli, many of them remain pro-Israel, even behind bars, Fox reported Monday.

“The prisoner was then contacted by this organization and recorded a video in support of them,” the source said. “The individual had been in touch via video call directly with a couple of Israelis whom they had met via this website. The Iranian regime was monitoring them and arrested the prisoner because of these illicit communications and for posting something pro-Israel online, and charged them with espionage offenses. The prisoner remained very pro-Israel in prison and would openly talk about their interest in visiting Israel after their release.”

According to the source, “The prisoner even hoped Israel would grant them asylum after their release, because they went to jail for Israel.”

In Iran it is a crime to visit Israel, and many Iranian Jews have been jailed over the years for visiting relatives in Israel and then returning to Iran. In 2020, Iran’s parliament passed a law outlawing any prearranged contact between Iranians and Israelis.

In another case, Fox learned that an Iranian woman visiting Turkey had been betrayed by Turkish intelligence. The woman was arrested by the agents of Turkey–a NATO member and supposed ally of America–after leaving the Israeli embassy in Ankara. She was deported to Iran and sent to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison — where the regime keeps most of its political prisoners.

A source told Fox that the woman “had been given 16 years on espionage and terrorism charges. She had an Iranian boyfriend she had met in Europe who she says works as a doctor for the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].”

“The woman had visited Tel Aviv with him on her Iranian passport … She is a practicing Muslim and would pray regularly yet somehow felt drawn to or connected to Israel,” the source said.
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