Discussion: What would Imperial Iranian-Israeli relations be today?

Sorry for the long headline, but if the Shah stays on the Peacock throne, would Iran be like Turkey until recently, or would it be only covert ties?
 
Well, it's likely there would be two nuclear powers in the Mideast, namely Israel and Iran...and the US would approve!
 

Hashasheen

Banned
Iran and Israel would be best friends 4ever. Seriously. Iran would be given a free hand in Lebanon, and we might see a Christian-Shia majority dominate the country. Expect the looming threat over Bahrain and Iraq if they step out of line as well.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Would the Shah have supported Islamist militias in Lebanon? Did pre-Revolutionary Iran do things like that?

Anyways, Iran and Israel were allies and very good friends prior to the Revolution due to historical ties and their common interests of anti-communism and containing Arab powers seeking to upset the region's balance of power. There's no reason to think things would have changed
 
Would the Shah have supported Islamist militias in Lebanon? Did pre-Revolutionary Iran do things like that?

I think the idea would be that Iran and Israel would both use their respective proxies in Lebanon to crush the PLO.
 
Ah, so if we *take care of* Arafat in some way or another, then the PLO can be nipped in the bud? Then there's no Palestinian-Israeli conflict as we know it today, because they won't have a unifying, untouchable leader.
 

Hashasheen

Banned
Ah, so if we *take care of* Arafat in some way or another, then the PLO can be nipped in the bud? Then there's no Palestinian-Israeli conflict as we know it today, because they won't have a unifying, untouchable leader.
There would be others. Arafat was only one of many cadres that grew up with the Fedayeen.
 
Hash: But he's the only one who can command cross-Palestinian unity between the Gazans, the West Bankers, the expats and all the divisions amongst those groups. Just look at Abbas right now. I'm 99.99% sure the civil war wouldn't have happened under Arafat.
 

Hashasheen

Banned
Hash: But he's the only one who can command cross-Palestinian unity between the Gazans, the West Bankers, the expats and all the divisions amongst those groups. Just look at Abbas right now. I'm 99.99% sure the civil war wouldn't have happened under Arafat.
The Civil war was a result of burgeoning Fatah corruption, much of it from Arafat in his attempts to stay in power by buying off the various warlords and lieutenants he had. Different leader might be less corrupt, removing the chances of a civil war.
 
It depend on the surviving Shan. If he is in an strong position, he may have room to play any way he likes. If he is in a weak position and lack popularity., he may have to play the "populist card" and be more anti-Israeli.
 
So wouldn't that be his son Cyrus? Of course for the Imperial regime to survive, they need to decentralize a hell of a lot more than OTL and hand over more power to the PM and Cabinet. Eventually he could become a de facto constitutional monarch.
 
It depend on the surviving Shan. If he is in an strong position, he may have room to play any way he likes. If he is in a weak position and lack popularity., he may have to play the "populist card" and be more anti-Israeli.
Is the Iranian public overwhelmingly anti-Israel?
 
It depends how you define "anti". If you mean a significant amount of Iranian students going to Israel as exchange students and all that kumbaya crap, then, yes they'd be "anti". More likely Israel-Turkey of OTL: cooperation, limited tourism and investment (like Egypt IOTL), but nothing public like a FTA. The populace would likely be lukewarm.
 
Is the Iranian public overwhelmingly anti-Israel?

I would be very suprised if they aren't today as well as at the revolution and while a surviving Shan-dom(?) offer a lot of potential butterflies, they would today. What could Israel do to be popular? Fight a war for Iran? They haven't done that for anybody but themself, including the US who pay Israel a lot of money. They might sell weapon if Iran gets involved in an war but I suspect the Iranian public would see it as buissness, not a favour.

And the rest of the problems might be unsolved (Jerusalem, a lot of people driven from their homes...)
 
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