Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Prays for Peace at Jerusalem’s Western Wall
by i24 News
A general view picture shows the Dome of the Rock , the Western Wall and al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News – At the initiative of Israel’s Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, the son of the Iranian Shah, Reza Pahlavi, visited the Western Wall together with his wife. He wished the two countries, “to peace, to freedom, to security, respect of man, and to life together. I bless the people of Iran and Israel.”
In a tweet, he continued, “It is with profound awe that I visit the Western Wall of that Temple and pray for the day when the good people of Iran and Israel can renew our historic friendship.”
“So said Cyrus, the king of Persia, ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of the heavens delivered to me, and He commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.’” – Hebrew Bible, Ezra 1:2
2,500 years ago, Cyrus the Great liberated the Jewish people from… pic.twitter.com/HIVOj5RvoZ
Related coverage
May 27, 2023 1:18 pm— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) April 18, 2023
Pahlavi respected local traditions, standing in reflection for two minutes with all the people of Israel during the Holocaust Memorial Day siren, with hundreds of others praying at the Western Wall. And he read chapters of Psalms, led by a local rabbi, and together prayed for peace between the two nations.
The Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz met with Pahlavi, and the two discussed the significance of the day and the Western Wall to the Jewish people. The rabbi also spoke about the city of Jerusalem, which ensures freedom of religion for all.
During his historic visit to the Jewish state, Pahlavi also met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, and attended a ceremony held at the National Holocaust Memorial and Museum, Yad Vashem, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. He stood alongside Netanyahu and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, but did not deliver a speech.
The Crown Prince spoke with i24NEWS, saying that it was his “duty” to attend the event and honor the Holocaust victims. Pahlavi, in exile for 43 years, resides in the United States. He is a fierce opponent of the Iranian regime.
