What is the biblical holiday of Purim, and why do Israelis link it to Khamenei’s death?

Times of Israel 🇮🇱 ^ | 3/2/26 | ROSSELLA TERCATIN

[Mr. Mojo]

Joint Israel-US strikes on the Iranian regime are taking place just as Jews are set to mark a festival commemorating another war against a Persian official who sought their destruction.

Saturday morning, just over an hour after Israel and the United States began airstrikes against the Iranian regime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Israel and the world in a video statement.

In his speech, Netanyahu noted that the confrontation with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporters was taking place as Jews prepared to mark the anniversary of another war fought against an official from ancient Persia.

“My brothers and sisters, in two days we will celebrate the holiday of Purim,” he said. “Two and a half thousand years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal: to destroy our people completely. But Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, through their courage and resourcefulness, saved our people. In those days of Purim, the lot fell, and the wicked Haman fell with it.”

“Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and the evil regime’s end will also come,” he added.

Netanyahu was not the only one who mentioned Purim in remarks tied to the latest conflict.

Avigdor Liberman, the head of the opposition party Yisrael Beytenu, drew a direct comparison between the biblical figure Haman and Iran’s supreme leader, Khamenei.

Chief Rabbis Kalman Ber and David Yosef also addressed the Israeli public in a letter recommending increased prayer and fasting for a favorable outcome in the war.

[Celtic Conservative]

Okay, so I failed reading comprehension for today. 🙄

Cheers.

CC

[Cronos]

The Persian people were a merger of the Indo-Iranian Aryan people with the Dravidian Elamites

[silent majority rising]

Too cloudy this morning where I am at.