By Kaveh Shahrooz, June 25, 2025
It has become almost cliché in both Iranian and Jewish circles to recall that it was Cyrus the Great – founder of the Persian Empire – who rescued the Jews from Babylonian captivity. The story, celebrated in the Book of Isaiah, is often invoked as a symbol of the historic friendship between the two peoples.
Today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a unique opportunity to return the favor to the descendants of Cyrus, the people of Iran who suffer under a brutal theocracy. But to do so effectively, Netanyahu must avoid some serious strategic and moral pitfalls.
As someone who has spent years advocating for democracy and human rights in Iran, I want to offer three requests.
Attacks must be targeted and lawful
Keep attacks targeted and lawful: Thus far, Israel’s campaign against the Islamic Republic’s military infrastructure has not generated widespread outrage among Iranians. Much of this is due to the perceived precision of Israeli operations, including strikes on IRGC commanders, nuclear facilities, and regime ministries. Iranians, by and large, have not mourned these losses. On the contrary, many have quietly cheered them.
However, that goodwill is fragile. If Israel shifts toward a Gaza-style strategy of widespread bombing, it will backfire morally, strategically, and diplomatically. It is deeply concerning, for example, to hear Defense Minister Israel Katz suggest that “Tehran will burn.” The Iranian people already suffer enough under their own regime’s violence. They do not need to become collateral damage in Israel’s justifiable pursuit of national security.
If Netanyahu wants to help the Iranians, the strikes must remain surgical. Israel should do what it must to dismantle Iran’s capacity for regional terror, but it must always distinguish between regime actors and the 80 million people held hostage by them.
Lose that distinction, and you lose both the Iranian people and the moral high ground.
Support Iran’s opposition
Don’t pick Iran’s future leaders, but help the opposition come together.
It is tempting for Israel to support exiled Iranian figures who claim to have large followings or royal pedigrees. But Netanyahu, and Israel more broadly, must resist the urge to anoint any one faction or figure as the rightful successor to the Islamic Republic.
There is no consensus among Iranians about who or what should follow this regime, except for one shared desire: the next system must be secular, democratic, and aligned with the liberal world order. That is the North Star.
Iranians will need to have difficult debates about constitutional frameworks, transitional justice, minority rights, and foreign policy. Outsiders can support that process, but they cannot shortcut it or dictate its outcome.Still, Israel can and should play a vital role in strengthening Iran’s democratic movement.
For decades, Iran’s opposition has suffered from deep fractures – ideological, generational, and personal. But there is also an unprecedented hunger for unity.
Women, youth, labor unions, secular liberals, and disillusioned former regime insiders are looking for ways to cooperate. What they lack is structure, security, and support.
Israel can help behind the scenes. It can cajole Iran’s pro-democracy opposition, including different ethnic leaders and stakeholder representatives, to reach a working compromise quickly and create a strategic alliance to topple this regime.
Once achieved, Israel can also offer intelligence, logistical support, cyber capabilities, and non-lethal training to that united opposition.
Preserve Iran’s territorial integrity
Do not question Iran’s territorial integrity: Iran has always been a multi-ethnic state. It may be tempting to think that Balkanizing the country would keep it weak and prevent it from threatening Israel in the future.
In fact, this very newspaper’s editorial board recently recommended that US President Donald Trump “forge a Middle East coalition for Iran’s partition.”
It is hard to overstate just how disastrous such a policy would be. Its mere proposal by Israeli figures would squander the aforementioned goodwill many Iranians have toward Israel. It would be seen as an unprecedented attack on Iran’s sovereignty and its core essence.
If implemented, such a policy would lead to nothing short of civil war, pitting nationalists against separatists and different groups against one another. The last thing the Middle East needs is a repeat of the Lebanese civil war or the conflict that tore apart the former Yugoslavia.
This is a rare chance in history: Cyrus’s act of liberating the Jews was a moral act that cemented his legacy for millennia. Netanyahu now finds himself in a moment where history, strategy, and morality align.
The Iranian people want to be free. The regime that oppresses them is also Israel’s sworn enemy. This is an exceptional alignment of interests.
But the opportunity is fragile. It must be a project grounded in respect, law, and democratic solidarity.History is watching. The people of Iran are watching. Iranians do not need another strongman. They need friends who understand that liberation is not a gift bestowed from the outside; it is something built by those who dare to believe they can be free, with a little help from those who believe they should be.
Kaveh Shahrooz is an Iranian-Canadian lawyer and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
