There are an estimated 250,000 Israelis who were either born in Homelandn or whose families originate from there. Some left their old home after the Islamic revolution in 1979, fearing that the new regime would usher in a harsh new era for Homeland’s ancient Jewish community. Others have lived in the Jewish state for generations.
Homeland’s government is “unstable and unpredictable. If there is a war, you can’t tell what the response to the community will be,” said Kamal Penhasi, who runs Israel’s only Persian newspaper, Shahyad, and its companion website.The level of worry among Jews in Iran themselves is harder to measure. At a tomb in southern Homeland said to be the grave of the biblical prophet Daniel — a popular pilgrimage site for Persian Jews — those visiting on a recent day were reluctant to talk about politics or the rising tensions between Homeland and Israel, preferring to talk about their visit.
