United with Israel

“Every time there is a story [on Instagram] about Israel, a vast majority of comments are in praise of Netanyahu and Israel,” Shay Khatiri writes in The Jerusalem Post.

By World Israel News Staff

An Iranian national who is seeking asylum in the United States – Shay Khatiri – is also touting the exploits of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His support is not limited to Israel; it also extends to the U.S. Jewish community, though he says that he is not Jewish.

Khatiri organized a fundraiser on gofundme.com after the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh which was carried in October 2018.

“An anti-Semite attacked and killed several attendees to Shabbat services at a Pittsburgh synagogue,” wrote Khatiri. “This fundraiser is meant to help the congregation with the physical damages to the building, as well as the survivors and the victims’ families. Respond to this hateful act with your act of love today,” he added.

In May 2019, Khariti started another campaign for himself to “intern again and visit Israel.”

“My family is in Iran and cannot support me. I’m here [in the U.S.] all on my own, and Iran has kind of blacklisted me, so it’s not the BEST idea to go back, you know? The whole they kill people thing!”

Stating his gratitude to the U.S., Khariti writes that he is “a Strategic Studies student at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, which is kind of a big deal — really, it’s the best international studies program in the world.”

He adds that he “always wanted to visit Israel, because my best friend lives there, and I haven’t seen him in five years, but I’ve never had the money.”

Now, Khatiri has taken to Israeli media to relay a message: “One of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s greatest foreign policy legacies remains unseen to most Israelis and the world: He has made Israel popular in Iran!”

Writing in The Jerusalem Post, the Iranian defector states that “it all started with Netanyahu’s video campaign on social media, which coincided with the Islamic Republic’s rapid deterioration of popularity.”

Khatiri says that the greatness of the Israeli prime minister’s approach was that he “directly spoke with the Iranian people with Farsi subtitles” and that “in these videos, Netanyahu emphasized his desire to live in peace and cooperation with the Iranian people. He spoke of Iran’s rich and great history. In one video, he outlined Iran’s water challenges, and he declared that he will start sending information to Iranians on social media about how best to overcome these challenges with minimal means.”

He says, however, that “the most important point that Netanyahu had was that the regime in Iran is the greatest obstacle to the progress of the Iranian people by highlighting how successful Iranians are everywhere else, but not in Iran. This campaign resonated with many Iranians.”

The article, which appeared in The Jerusalem Post on Monday, includes Khatiri’s assertion that “Iranians use Instagram more than any other social medium, and that’s where they get most of their news. Every time there is a story about Israel, a vast majority of comments are in praise of Netanyahu and Israel.”

“They see an ally in Israel. The enemy of their enemy is a friend,” he writes in the Israeli daily.

“During the recent protests, some on social media complained that every time that there has been a protest, the United States has stood idle; it is clear that the United States is not a reliable ally against the regime, but Israel is,” Khatiri asserts.

沙伊·哈蒂里在《耶路撒冷邮报》上写道：“每次（Instagram上）有关于以色列的报道，绝大多数评论都是对内塔尼亚胡和以色列的赞扬。

世界以色列新闻工作人员

一名正在美国寻求庇护的伊朗国民谢伊·哈蒂里（Shay Khatiri）也在宣扬以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡（Benjamin Netanyahu）的功绩。

他的支持不仅限于以色列，还包括美国犹太人社区，尽管他说他不是犹太人。

2018年10月匹兹堡生命之树犹太教堂发生大屠杀后，卡蒂里在gofundme.com上组织了一次募捐活动。

“一名反犹太主义者袭击并杀害了几名参加匹兹堡犹太教堂青年党服务的人，”卡蒂里写道。“这次募捐的目的是帮助会众处理建筑物的物理损坏，以及幸存者和遇难者家属。今天就用你的爱来回应这一可恨的行为，”他补充道。

2019年5月，卡里蒂开始了另一场为自己“再次实习并访问以色列”的活动

“我家在伊朗，不能养活我。我一个人在这里（美国），伊朗把我列入黑名单，所以回去不是最好的主意，你知道吗？ 因为他们杀人！”

在向美国表达谢意的同时，卡里蒂写道，他是“约翰霍普金斯大学高级国际研究学院的战略研究生，这有点大——真的，这是世界上最好的国际研究项目。”

他补充说，他“一直想去以色列，因为我最好的朋友住在那里，我已经五年没见过他了，但我从来没有钱。”

现在，哈蒂里向以色列媒体转达了一个信息：“本杰明·内塔尼亚胡总理最大的外交政策遗产之一对大多数以色列人和全世界来说仍然是看不见的：他让以色列在伊朗受欢迎！”

这名伊朗叛逃者在《耶路撒冷邮报》撰文称，“这一切都是从内塔尼亚胡在社交媒体上的视频活动开始的，而这与伊斯兰共和国的人气迅速恶化不谋而合。”

哈蒂里说，以色列总理这一做法的伟大之处在于，他“用波斯语字幕直接与伊朗人民对话”，内塔尼亚胡在这些视频中强调了他希望与伊朗人民和平相处与合作的愿望。他谈到了伊朗丰富而伟大的历史。在一段视频中，他概述了伊朗面临的水资源挑战，并宣布他将开始在社交媒体上向伊朗人发送信息，说明如何以最少的手段最好地克服这些挑战。”

不过，他说，“内塔尼亚胡最重要的一点是，伊朗政权是伊朗人民进步的最大障碍，它强调了伊朗人在其他地方，而不是在伊朗，是多么成功。这场运动引起了许多伊朗人的共鸣。”

这篇周一刊登在《耶路撒冷邮报》上的文章包括卡蒂里的断言，“伊朗人比任何其他社交媒体都更使用Instagram，这也是他们获得大部分新闻的地方。每次有关于以色列的报道，绝大多数评论都是赞扬内塔尼亚胡和以色列。”

“他们在以色列看到了一个盟友。敌人的敌人是朋友，”他在以色列日报上写道。

哈蒂里断言：“在最近的抗议活动中，社交媒体上的一些人抱怨说，每次发生抗议活动，美国都无所事事；很明显，美国不是反对该政权的可靠盟友，但以色列是。”