Israeli Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel predicts that Iranian protests will shortly lead to the downfall of the regime.
Israeli Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel has emerged as a leading public voice for the Iranian protesters, and predicted that they would shortly bring about the downfall of the Islamic regime.
“Your protests, by women and men, young people and students, mothers and fathers, are justified,” Gamliel said in a video posted on X in English on Thursday. “The regime is weakening every day, and these are its final moments.”
Gamliel’s public remarks—including multiple social media posts over the last week—have put her front and center, even as the government in Jerusalem has remained more circumspect in its public remarks on the issue.
Gamliel, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud Party and who has developed a close relationship with the son of the late Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi over the last several years, called on the international community to back the protesters, at least 16 of whom have been killed in a week of unrest sparked by soaring prices and a collapsing currency.
“Israel is with you, and we support you in every way possible,” said Gamliel.
“The government of Israel, the State of Israel, and my own policies—we identify with the struggle of the Iranian people, with their aspirations for freedom, liberty, and justice,” said Netanyahu. “It is quite possible that we are at a moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”
Gamliel hosted Reza Pahlavi for a historic visit to Israel two years ago and has served as the Israeli government’s de facto liaison with the Iranian opposition.
Last September, she also spearheaded a follow-up visit to Israel by a group of Iranian dissident researchers, led by a senior adviser to the crown prince, to promote regional cooperation and peace after the fall of the Islamic Republic.
The trip, which aimed to lay the foundation for a future peace agreement between the two Middle Eastern countries, dubbed the “Cyrus Accords,” came less than three months after the 12-day war against Iran in mid-June.