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In 2016, I took a six-month trip to Southeast Asia, where I befriended a French-Lebanese woman my age named Nour.
She was born and raised in Paris — because her parents had to flee Beirut during the first Israel-Lebanon War in 1982. And yet, according to Nour, her parents and extended family were secretly rooting for Israel to defeat various Palestinian groups operating in southern Lebanon.
By the late 1970s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had relocated to Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan in 1970, had established a quasi-state within a state in southern Lebanon — similar to what Hezbollah has done in the last few decades. The PLO used this area as a base to launch attacks against northern Israel, which contributed to increasing tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
In the early 1980s, the situation escalated further as PLO cross-border skirmishes and attacks intensified. In June 1982, an assassination attempt was made on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, by the Abu Nidal Organization, a breakaway faction of the PLO. Although the attack was not directly ordered by the PLO leadership, Israel held the PLO responsible due to its overall control of Palestinian armed groups.
Three days later, Israel launched Operation Peace for Galilee, with the declared aim of pushing PLO forces away from its northern border and creating a 40-kilometer buffer zone. The invasion quickly escalated into a full-scale war as Israeli forces advanced towards Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, where the PLO was headquartered. The Israeli military aimed to weaken the PLO’s military infrastructure and diminish its political influence, but the operation soon involved complex engagements with various Lebanese factions and Syrian forces stationed in Lebanon.
The war resulted in significant destruction and a high number of casualties, particularly among Lebanese civilians, significantly reshaping Lebanon’s politics and society and leading to years of instability and violence.
Then came the second Israel-Lebanon War in 2006, when Hezbollah launched a cross-border attack on Israel, ambushing an IDF patrol near a border village that resulted in the deaths of three Israeli soldiers, and two more were kidnapped back into Lebanon. In response, Israel initiated a military operation aimed at rescuing the abducted soldiers and pushing Hezbollah forces back from the border, quickly escalating into a full-scale conflict.
Across the pond in Iran, the Islamic Republic has consistently positioned itself as a staunch adversary of Israel, supporting groups like Hezbollah and Hamas that oppose Israel’s mere existence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Iranian regime has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” because it is a “rabid dog” and “cancerous tumor” and “lesser than animals” that “will not see the next 25 years.”
The Iranian government has even hosted a conference questioning the historical reality of the Holocaust and, on three occasions, it has held cartoon competitions aimed at promoting Holocaust denial. In an article published last year in the Iran-based Khabar Online, former Iranian diplomat Mohsen Pakaein used the ban against Holocaust denial in France to claim that what allowed the caricatures to be published was not free speech laws in France, but Islamophobia sanctioned by the French government.
Despite this backdrop of hostility, recent years have seen significant changes. In Lebanon, a country grappling with severe economic collapse, political corruption, and social unrest, many Lebanese are disillusioned with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group and political party that wields considerable power in Lebanon.
The devastating explosion in Beirut’s port in August 2020, which many blame on government negligence and Hezbollah’s influence, has only intensified public frustration. Many Lebanese officials, reporters, and even celebrities have declared their will to have peace between Israel and Lebanon.
A survey in Lebanon to check public attitude towards the negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and the peace agreements between the United Arab Emirates and Israel showed that “two-thirds of Sunnis (70 percent) and Christians (67 percent) agree that those talks are ‘a positive development;’ half (51 percent) of Shia agree, with a mere 19 percent of all Lebanese expressing ‘strong’ disagreement.”1
Nadim Koteich, a Lebanese journalist and political analyst, said: “Making peace as opposed to making death... It is a matter of choice. They [the United Arab Emirates] are building the future, and we are hardly able to restore and lift the present from under the rubble of speeches, frustrations, and hot air.”
Additionally, Lebanon’s former prime minister, Fouad Siniora, accused Hezbollah of taking Lebanon “to the brink of the abyss.” In recent months, the leaders of both the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb (two of Lebanon’s main political parties) have condemned Hezbollah for waging an unnecessary “war of attrition” and provoking Israel into attacks on Lebanon. They criticize Hezbollah for taking unilateral decisions in the name of all Lebanese citizens.
“Hezbollah made a strategic mistake in opening a front in Lebanon,” said Richard Kouyoumjian, the Lebanese Forces’ head of foreign affairs. “We back Lebanese neutrality and the implementation of resolution 1701.”2 (Adopted by the United Nations Security Council after the 2006 war, this resolution provides for the deployment of the Lebanese army and UN Interim Force in Lebanon on the border instead of Hezbollah operatives.)
Turns out, Israel’s killing of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah two weeks ago was celebrated not only in Israel, but throughout the Middle East. While Nasrallah was closely allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad and helped him brutally crush Assad’s opponents in the Syrian Civil War, in areas outside government control Syrians celebrated, cheering and honking car horns even before news of his death was confirmed.
A video posted on social media showed a group of Iranian women, their faces hidden, saying in Persian that they, “the children of Iran, send a congratulatory message to everyone for the death of Hassan Nasrallah and congratulate the Iranian nation,” as well as a special thank you to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking of Iran, a similar wave of discontent is brewing. The Iranian populace has suffered under an oppressive regime that prioritizes ideological battles over economic stability and human rights. Sanctions, economic mismanagement, and political repression have driven many Iranians to seek change.
Social media has played a pivotal role in amplifying these emerging voices. Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Clubhouse have become spaces where Lebanese and Iranian citizens express solidarity with Israel. They admire Israel’s technological advancements, democratic institutions, and the resilience of its people. In Lebanon, some citizens have publicly criticized Hezbollah’s anti-Israel rhetoric and actions, advocating for a peaceful coexistence that prioritizes Lebanon’s recovery and prosperity.
In Iran, the younger generation in particular is increasingly vocal. They use social media to share messages of support for Israeli civilians, condemn their government’s annihilationist stance, and call for peace. Hashtags like #IsraelisOurFriend and #PeaceWithIsrael trend regularly.
Even Iranians who supported the Palestinians and condemned Israel at the time of the 1979 revolution did so due to their opposition to Iran’s monarchy, which had close (if unofficial) ties to Israel. But today, because of the enmity of the Islamic Republic with Israel, regime opponents consider Hamas a terrorist entity and voice their support for the Israeli operation in Gaza.
Iranian sympathy for the Palestinians has eroded in large part because the Islamic Republic spends Iran’s funds on supporting what everyday Iranians regard as extraneous causes rather than on the needs of the Iranian public. Law professor and former parliamentarian Mahmoud Sadeghi criticized the regime’s stated policy on “Palestine” — a referendum for Palestinians to state their wishes — because the Islamic Republic does not offer the same to its own population.
Everyday Iranians are raised with this anti-Israel and antisemitic content, which fills television and radio broadcasts and even school textbooks. Yet, anyone familiar with Iranian society knows that anti-Israel attitudes have mostly failed to go beyond vociferous supporters of the regime despite years of attempted indoctrination.
On October 8th, 2023, the day after the Hamas-led massacres and kidnappings in Israel, some pro-government figures tried to raise the Palestinian flag from the stands at Tehran’s iconic Azadi soccer stadium. The backlash they faced was immediate. Thousands of fans started shouting a slogan formulated in the rowdy and rude tone of fans everywhere: “Shove the Palestinian flag up your ass.”3
Earlier this year, an Israeli flag was seen flying in Azadi Square, in the heart of Tehran. This coincided with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s visit to Iran for the inauguration of its newly elected president after the former one, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash. Haniyeh was assassinated, presumably by Israeli operatives, that week and the Mossad is now believed to have caused the aforementioned helicopter crash.
“Ninety percent of the Iranian people are against the regime,” said Iranian journalist and human rights activist Vahid Beheshti. “As soon as the Americans and their allies harm the Iranian regime, the people of Iran will rise up and finish the job.”4
Beheshti added that, “despite all the propaganda of the Islamic Republic, the people of Iran continue to risk their lives and show their support for Israel.”
“Is there a Shift in Lebanese Public Opinion toward Israel?” Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel-Aviv University.
“The Lebanese don’t want war with Israel. Does Hizbullah?” Le Monde diplomatique.
“What do Iranians think of Israel? Their views might surprise you.” Atlantic Council.
“Iranian opposition activist: ‘The people of Iran support Israel’.” The Jerusalem Post.
I bet you won’t see this mentioned in any of the MSM outlets? To them everything is the fault of Israel and many of them can’t even bring themselves to call Hamas/Hezbollah terrorists. They really are a disgrace. They gaslight the public on a daily basis.
Thanks for this detailed history, Joshua. We in Vancouver have been blessed with enthusiastic and much-appreciated support from our local Persian expat community.