In a Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that ancient Persia had made a failed attempt to “destroy the Jewish people” some 2,500 years ago. He made the remarks in an attempt to falsely suggest that Iranian people have been anti-Semitic from long times ago.
In reaction, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Netanyahu had misreported Iran’s pre-Islamic era history.
“Apparently, he is neither acquainted with history, nor has read Torah,” he noted, according to a Farsi report by Entekhab.
While scholars do not agree on the accuracy of the Purim story, Netanyahu has constantly referred to the legend as a basis of his anti-Iran arguments in his meetings with different world leaders, Press TV reported.
According to Jewish accounts, Persian King Ahasverous discovered his viceroy’s conspiracy to slaughter Jews some 2,500 years ago and had him executed.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu has been selective in his recount of history, ignoring the Hebrew Bible that has repeatedly praised Persian King Cyrus the Great as the patron and deliverer of the Jews, who put an end to their Babylonian captivity.
Read this article to know more about why the Israeli PM is trying to show Iran as an anti-Semitic nation.
