United with Israel

Caught between an oppressive regime and the raging coronavirus pandemic, Israel’s Foreign Ministry says thousands of Iranians are requesting help to escape to Israel.

By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem said Wednesday it has seen a huge increase in the number of Iranians asking Israel for help as that country suffers from the brutal regime and the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Thousands of people are asking to come to Israel for medical assistance or to emigrate,” Yiftah Curiel, head of Digital Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, told the Jerusalem Post.

“There are lots of Iranians in Iran and in the diaspora who support Israel, reject the regime and want to see a different future between the two countries,” Curiel said.

Iranians have been contacting Israel by email and private messages sent to the ministry’s Persian-language social media accounts, or by posting open messages on social media, but using false names to avoid being arrested by the authorities who ban any contact with Israel.

Many of the messages are serious requests from Iranians seeing asylum in Israel.

“Sometimes they are from people who have been forced to flee and are refugees in other countries, or people who had to flee after expressing solidarity with Israel,” Curiel said.

One message from a 31-year-old Iranian told the ministry, “I escaped Iran because of the corrupt regime. I asked for asylum in Turkey, and my wife and 4-year-old daughter and I are in unlivable conditions; there is no one who can help. We have been abandoned and our lives are in danger.”

A message from a man claiming to be a Jewish soldier in the Iranian army said being Jewish was a “political and religious crime, I have to flee Iran. Please direct me how to receive asylum in Israel? Please answer me. My life is in danger and I cannot stay in Iran.”

The ministry’s Persian social media program is run by Sharona Avginsaz, who made aliyah from Iran in 1988. Its Twitter account has 220,000 followers and there are almost half a million on Instagram.

Most Iranians “see Israel as a modern, progressive, democratic country, and that is one of the reasons for this wave of messages to our pages,” Avginsaz said, adding that Iranians these days are more aware because of the internet and those who contact her know that Iran’s anti-Israel propaganda is a lie.

The number of requests has overwhelmed her department’s ability to answer each message.

“We have a very receptive audience,” Curiel said.

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以色列外交部说，数千名伊朗人被困在一个压迫性政权和肆虐的冠状病毒大流行之间，他们请求帮助逃到以色列。

作者：亚基尔·本齐翁，与以色列联合

耶路撒冷外交部星期三说，由于伊朗遭受野蛮政权和冠状病毒大流行的蹂躏，要求以色列帮助的伊朗人大幅增加。

外交部数字外交主管伊夫塔库里尔（Yiftah Curiel）对《耶路撒冷邮报》说：“数千人要求来以色列寻求医疗援助或移民。

库里尔说：“在伊朗和海外有很多伊朗人支持以色列，拒绝这个政权，希望看到两国之间的不同未来。”。

伊朗人一直通过电子邮件和发送到该部波斯语社交媒体账户的私人信息与以色列联系，或在社交媒体上发布公开信息，但使用假名以避免被禁止与以色列接触的当局逮捕。

许多信息都是伊朗人提出的在以色列寻求庇护的严肃要求。

库里尔说：“有时他们来自被迫逃离的人，是其他国家的难民，或者是在表达对以色列的声援后不得不逃离的人。”。

一位31岁的伊朗人告诉伊朗外交部，“我因为腐败的政权而逃离了伊朗。我要求在土耳其避难，我和我的妻子和4岁的女儿都生活在无法居住的环境中；没有人能帮助我。我们被遗弃了，我们的生命处于危险之中。”

一名自称是伊朗军队犹太士兵的男子发来的信息说，身为犹太人是“政治和宗教犯罪，我必须逃离伊朗”。请告诉我如何在以色列接受庇护？请回答我。我的生命处于危险之中，我不能留在伊朗。”

该部的波斯社交媒体项目由莎罗娜·阿夫金萨兹（Sharona Avginsaz）负责，她于1988年从伊朗制造了aliyah。它的Twitter账户有22万粉丝，Instagram上有近50万。

阿夫金萨兹说，大多数伊朗人“将以色列视为一个现代化、进步、民主的国家，这也是这一波信息传到我们网页的原因之一”，他还说，伊朗人现在更清楚，因为互联网，与她联系的人都知道，伊朗的反以色列宣传是谎言。

请求的数量已经超过了她所在部门回复每条消息的能力。

库里尔说：“我们的观众很容易接受。

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“……因为耶和华你的神领你进入美地……有麦子大麦，葡萄树，无花果，石榴，橄榄油，蜜之地”（申命记8:7-8）