We're Members of the Israeli Knesset. Here's Our Message to Iranians
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
To the proud people of Iran:
This is not a message to your rulers. It's a message to you—the heirs of Cyrus the Great, of Ferdowsi, Avicenna, and Rumi. For centuries, Iranian civilization was one of the most admired in the world. Your science, art, and literature helped shape humanity's understanding of beauty and wisdom. Your gardens inspired the world. Your poetry spoke of mercy, truth, and the soul.
But that light has been dimmed by a regime that fears freedom. A regime that crushes dissent, bans art, jails women, and spends your national treasure on weapons, militias, and war.
This week, Israel acted—not to punish Iran, but to stop the machinery of destruction that threatens the region and the world. We struck facilities and commanders tied to the regime's nuclear and terror infrastructure. These strikes were precise and limited—aimed not at the Iranian people, but at the violent ideology that endangers them too.
We acted because no sovereign nation can accept the threat of annihilation. But we also acted because we believe in a different future—one we know is possible.
Our two peoples have known friendship before. There was a time—not so long ago—when Israel and Iran were close partners, exchanging knowledge, trade, and good will. That friendship was not a fluke. It was a reflection of two ancient civilizations that, when working together, can bring tremendous good to the region and to the world. That potential still exists. It is only blocked by the extremist regime that came to power and tore that friendship apart.
A new Middle East is taking shape before our eyes. Countries that once saw each other as enemies are working together—through the Abraham Accords—to build a region based on cooperation and shared prosperity. Israeli and Emirati entrepreneurs develop startups together. Bahraini and Moroccan students study at Israeli universities. Regional air defense is being built across borders.
This isn't some distant dream—it's happening now. And a free Iran could be part of it.
Israeli flags stand amid rubble and destruction in a residential area of Rishon LeZion, Israel on June 14, 2025.
Israeli flags stand amid rubble and destruction in a residential area of Rishon LeZion, Israel on June 14, 2025.
Khadija Toufik / Middle East ImagesWe're not naïve. We know the regime will try to crush hope. But we also know that hope is already alive. We saw it in 2009's Green Movement, in 2019's street protests, in the women-led resistance of 2022. We've seen you risk everything to sing in your language, to dance in your cities, to choose how you live and who you worship.
We write to you not as rivals, but as partners in a shared struggle—against tyranny, against extremism, against the silence that fear imposes. We, too, come from a people who faced darkness. Our own state was born from suffering, but we built a democracy. We know what it means to be isolated, to be targeted, and to rise anyway.
Israel is ready to work with any nation that seeks peace. And one day, we believe, that can include a free Iran—one that no longer exports weapons and terror, but science, poetry, medicine, and innovation. Imagine Iranian engineers working side by side with Israeli ones on clean energy. Imagine Iranian music echoing through regional festivals. Imagine Tehran's universities as centers of knowledge, not repression.
This isn't a fantasy. It's a choice. And only you can make it.
No foreign army can bring freedom. But people can. When enough citizens say, "no more." When they say, "our identity will not be defined by fear." When they say, "our children deserve a life of dignity, not propaganda."
The world is watching. This is your moment—to rise on your own terms and reclaim the story of your country.
History has not forgotten the beauty and greatness of Iran. And neither have we.
We stand with you, coalition and opposition in Israel together—not above you, not beyond you, but beside you.
Dan Illouz is a Member of Knesset for the coalition Likud Party and Co‑Chair of the Knesset Abraham Accords Caucus. Michael Biton is a Member of Knesset for the opposition National Unity Party and Co‑Chair of the Knesset Abraham Accords Caucus.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
5 minutes ago
- Fox News
DAVID MARCUS: Trump's base trusts him to play strong hand in Iran
Of all the ways to try to influence President Donald Trump, the absolute worst is to threaten him. And yet, there is a segment of MAGA world podcasters and influencers insisting that if the commander-in-chief takes direct action against Iran, it will divide and crush Trump's base. Don't count on it. The argument from podcast land is that Trump ran on a promise of no new wars and that any direct American action against Iran would betray that promise and plunge America into another forever war in the Middle East. Let's slow down a bit. In his first term, Trump killed Quasim Soliemani, the top Iranian general, to howls from the left, and some of these same right-wing podcasters, that it would start World War III. It didn't. They were wrong, Trump was right. Here we are again, the president faced with a choice. He can use U.S. bunker bombs to deal the lethal blow to Iran's nuclear program, or he can take the Joe Biden route, and sheepishly back off his demand for unconditional surrender, and let Iran continue its march to nukes. Depending on the polling, about 80% of Republicans think that a nuclear Iran poses a critical threat to the United States. And while voters are more split on direct U.S. action, Trump is laser-focused on stopping Tehran's bomb. Trump excels at solving problems everyone else says are impossible. Just look at the southern border, sealed tight as a Ziploc bag, even though everyone swore only Congress could do that. Likewise, in Iran, Trump doesn't want to hear a rehashing of the 8 million reasons why nobody can stop their nuclear program. He wants to hear how to stop it, and if those urging restraint can't tell him how, he's going to listen to those who can. This goes back to the farcical threat that Trump is going to lose his base if he bombs Iran, that the guy in an Ohio diner is going to side with the podcasters over the president he voted for. How did that work out for Elon Musk? The analogy is an apt one, because Musk's threats and criticisms over the Big Beautiful Bill potentially raising the debt had real resonance among GOP voters, and yet, they chose Trump over a chastened richest man in the world. They support Trump's overarching economic goals more than they dislike the debt. Same thing in Iran. Is there skepticism about using direct American military might? Of course. This ain't a pickup game of shirts and skins. But do they trust Trump overall to stop Iran from getting nukes? Absolutely. Talk of regime change and threats to kill Iran's supreme leader understandably make Americans jittery 25 years after the launch of the disastrous war in Iraq, but Trump isn't talking about invading with boots on the ground, and his base knows this. What the podcasters don't seem to understand is that the only way to influence Trump is to influence his voters. He doesn't care how many followers an influencer has on social media, half of which could be bots from foreign information operations, anyway. Actually, one has to wonder if our geo-political foes, whose bot farms seek to manipulate social media platforms in America and sow discord, are disappointed by their return on investment. On X, it seems like to bomb or not to bomb is a divide ripping our country apart. In real life, it simply isn't. The final thing that Trump understands and that his base trusts, is that the United States was losing the international status quo under his predecessors, on global trade, on the border, on China policy, and yes, in the Middle East. In all of these cases, he is determined to reverse that trend. There is nothing wrong or unpatriotic about arguing that direct U.S. action against Iran would be a mistake, and Trump no doubt welcomes lively debate. But as Vice President JD Vance, no chickenhawk, pointed out Tuesday, this is Trump's decision to make. Trump promised that Iran would never obtain a nuke, and he has a habit of keeping his campaign promises, even when taking slings and arrows from noisy voices on his own side. There isn't a podcast in the world that can keep Trump from fulfilling this promise as he sees fit, and his base, the real power behind the administration, expects nothing less.
The Hill
5 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel's attacks on Iran may lead to regime collapse, chaos: Trita Parsi
Iranian-Swedish writer Trita Parsi joins Rising to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict. #Iran #Israel #Trump #Netanyahu
Newsweek
6 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Florida's GOP Attorney General Urges Deportation of Democratic Lawmaker
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has called to "denaturalize and deport" Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar after she made critical remarks about President Donald Trump and the trajectory of the United States. Why It Matters Uthmeier's remarks intertwine with the politically divisive issue of immigration and the Trump administration's continued efforts to mass deport immigrants and prevent entry for some others. Critics of the administration have protested excessive raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and clamps on free speech regarding topics like Gaza. What To Know Uthmeier made his post on Tuesday on X in response to remarks Omar made on the news program Democracy Now about the broader U.S. military presence nationwide and how she never "witnessed anything like that" while growing up in a dictatorship in Somalia. "To have democracy, a beacon of hope for the world, to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights; while our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade—it is really shocking and should be a wake-up call for all Americans to say this is not the country we were born in, the country we believe in, the country our Founding Fathers imagined, and this is not the country supported by our Constitution, our ideals, our values," Omar said. A spokesperson for Omar declined to comment to Newsweek on Uthmeier's remarks. Newsweek reached out to Uthmeier's office via email for comment. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a mark up meeting with the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a mark up meeting with the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2025 in Washington, a Democrat first elected in 2019, is a naturalized citizen and has lived in the U.S. since the 1990s. She became the first African refugee and Muslim woman to be elected to Congress. Uthmeier was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in February after previous attorney general Ashley Moody became a U.S. Senator. He previously served as DeSantis' presidential campaign manager. DeSantis has made similar remarks about Omar in the past. In January 2024, while campaigning to represent the GOP as a presidential candidate, he called for Omar's deportation following her viral remarks to Somali American constituents regarding a deal struck at the time by Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland with landlocked Ethiopia, providing access to the sea. Omar purportedly said that she was "Somalian first, Muslim second" and "here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system." She later refuted the retelling of her statements, calling the clip viewed millions of times "not only slanted but completely off," adding that she "wouldn't expect more from these propagandists." Other Republicans, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have also called for Omar's deportation. Earlier this year, Texas State Representative Brandon Gill circulated a petition to deport Omar. Legal and immigration experts told Newsweek that calling for the deportation of a naturalized citizen is shortsighted and not legally realistic. What People Are Saying Stephen Schnably, a law professor at the University of Miami, previously told Newsweek: "It's just not in the cards, deportation as punishment for a U.S. citizen. That is something that just cannot be done." Immigration lawyer Rosanna Berardi previously told Newsweek: "The Immigration and Nationality Act allows for deportation/removal of individuals due to criminal activities, violations of status or violation of immigration law. Deportation for expressing political views, particularly those covered by the First Amendment, is not legally supported. Political speech does not constitute a valid basis for deportation." What To Know Also on Tuesday, a federal judge in Florida found Uthmeier to be in civil contempt over a ruling that put on hold a new state law making it a misdemeanor for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state, according to the Associated Press. "If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump's agenda on illegal immigration, so be it," Uthmeier said afterwards on social media.
