Dear Iranian brothers and sisters,
After 12 days of intense and successful military strikes against the nuclear and military facilities in your country, and the leaders of the IRGC and ayatollahs along with the masterminds of your regime’s nuclear program and global terrorist proliferation, we are now supposedly in a ceasefire. Other targets were hit; facilities and institutions used by the ayatollahs to brutalize and subjugate you. These included state television and propaganda broadcaster, and Evin Prison, used to incarcerate, torture, and eliminate anyone perceived as a threat to or enemy of the Islamic regime. You’ve suffered unspeakable horrors for nearly half a century.
We’ve endured our hits too, though not nearly what the regime is reporting. Twenty-eight civilians were killed, thousands injured, and some 9000 whose homes were destroyed are now homeless as the regime’s missiles and drones targeted our cities and civilians deliberately. While we gave you warning to evacuate places that were dangerous due to you being near our targets, we were all targeted. I was sent to my bomb shelter countless times, and many of the regime’s missiles passed directly over my head. We were protected by Israel investing for decades in our safety and security, including all the abilities to have the remarkable successes we had since June 13.
Unfortunately, your leaders do not care about your safety. In hijacking your country these past 46 years, they have stolen billions in your wealth and resources. They invested in an evil plot to create nuclear weapons that would destroy Israel and arm its terrorist proxies, tentacles throughout the Middle East, striving to do the same. We also have suffered unspeakably.
Throughout the 12 days, I prayed, wrote, spoke out, and advocated in every forum possible not just for our safety and well-being, but for yours as well. I prayed that as we weakened the Islamic regime and its ability to threaten and persecute you, that you would use this opportunity to rise up and take back your country. Regime change was not an overt part of the operation itself, not Israel’s and not America’s. But nobody would shed a tear if that happened. Many of us prayed for it, and still do. Not just for us and our safety, but for you and your safety as well.
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I’ve been imagining setting the clock back to 1978, with a prosperous and free Iran, a thriving member of the nations making incalculable contributions to the world. Not the country Iran has become whose only claim to fame is its radical Islamic genocidal extremism, and exporter of terror more than oil. I imagine an Iran not seeking to annihilate other countries, but as a peaceful, thriving member of the world community.
I imagine an Iran where you have restored the wonderful sense of pride in your Persian culture that has also been hijacked by the ayatollahs. I imagine that the direct flights between Israel and Iran will be as frequent as we saw since June 13, but filled with our respective citizens rebuilding a tradition of friendship between Jews and Persians going back to King Cyrus, and which existed until 1978.
Even if we had taken out the “Supreme Leader,” which I personally wish we had, along with his sons and any potential successors, the hard part remains up to you. I pray you will not squander it.
I know you’re not as familiar with the Bible as we are in Israel, and the West in general. But there are some valuable lessons and insights to be gleaned from that, and applied to what we are living through today.
In the Book of Esther, the Jewish queen put her life on the line to rescue the Jewish people from a previous genocidal Persian tyrant, Haman. Had the tides not turned and the Jews not been empowered to defend themselves throughout the Persian empire, not only would our history have been different, so would yours. Who knows if Cyrus would have risen to be the leader and role model that he is for us today. Be in touch. Let’s distribute the Book of Esther in Farsi throughout your country. It will be an inspiration for you today.
In Jeremiah 49:35-39, there is a prophecy that God will destroy the weapons of Elam (Iran) and its kings, and eventually establish His throne there, and restore your wealth. That also means your national pride and history. We’ve never seen anything closer to that prophecy coming true until this month. But like Esther, you need to do your part.
“Operation Rising Lion” derives its name from the Book of Numbers 23:24. This recounts the gentile prophet, Balaam, who was hired as a mercenary by the evil Moabite king, Balak, to curse Israel. Yet following God’s instructions, Balaam blessed Israel instead, speaking of Israel rising like a lion to face its enemies. It’s a good book. Let’s get that circulated in Farsi as well.
There’s a double entendre, a second meaning of Rising Lion, that’s specifically related to you, my Iranian brothers and sisters. Before the Islamic revolution, your flag had a lion at its center. It’s a symbol that many of you want restored, replacing the flag of the Islamic Republic. I pray for that. Your lion needs to rise again. This must be your opportunity.
Let’s go back to Esther. While she did risk her life, initially she hesitated. Her uncle, Mordechai (both of whom are buried in Iran), chided her: “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place…” Mordecai is clear that deliverance will come, that God will rescue them even through someone else.
Now is your time, dear Iranians. It will come with a cost, suffering, and likely bloodshed, sadly. Maybe it will take 49 years, as in Jeremiah 49, corresponding to the Biblical jubilee cycle after which property is restored to its original owner. For your sake, I pray it won’t take that long. Will those who want their freedom be a rising lion or a paper tiger? You need to act, as Esther did, for such a time as this.
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