Israelis in Iran: Revolution, Khomeini and The Bomb

October 3, 2013

64 min read

Before the Revolution: Israelis in Iran from JJ On the Road on Vimeo.

"Before the Revolution" is an extraordinary documentary. Director Dan Shadur has not only been fair and balanced in reflecting the presence of of Israelis in Iran, but has used fascinating never-seen-before footage of the revolution from home movies. (The film is being screened in the US and Europe. Don't miss it. For more information visit the official site.)

Shadur was born at the best -- and worst time. A year before the revolution Iran and Israel were enjoying the strongest ties. Thousands of Israelis were living in Iran, working on construction, industrial, agricultural and military projects. But in a matter of months everything changed. The Pahlavi regime which had appeared stable and strong, was suddenly engulfed in a deep political crisis brought on by wide-spread protests. With the departure of the Shah and the fall of the regime, Shadur's parents and other expatriates returned to their country and the Israeli embassy was handed to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Shortly thereafter, Shaudr's father passed away and a few years later he also lost his mother to cancer. Naturally Shadur grew up with bittersweet memories, often looking at family albums with pictures of happy times in Tehran. Eventually those pictures inspired him to contact Israelis who lived in Iran and make a documentary about them.

"Before the Revolution" has a critical view of the ties between Israel and the Shah's regime. The Israelis were basically giving technical and military support to a dictatorship in a country where there was a wide gap between the masses and the ruling elite. One of the people Shadur interviewed was Eliezer Tsfrir, MOSSAD's representative in Tehran who claimed that Iranian officials, including Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar, wanted the Israelis to assassinate Ayatollah Khomeini in Paris. But the Israelis did not want to get involved. If the Iranians wanted to do it, they could have used their own agents.

To learn more about that plot and discuss current affairs, including Israel fear of Iran's nuclear intentions, I interviewed Tsfrir at his home in Tel Aviv. (Apologies for the poor sound quality. Turn up the volume.)