article_snippet: While some of Netanyahu's remarks are already being exploited by competing factions within the Iranian state, the likeliest impact of the speech is tied to Netanyahu's baseless charge that Iran's vendetta against the Jewish people is an ancient mission.
article_snippet: But one aspect of Netanyahu's speech is bound to create backlash among ordinary Iranians outside the corridors of the state: Netanyahu invocation of festival of Purim, which commemorates the salvation of Jewish people in ancient Persia.
article_snippet: The historic event is recorded in the Book of Esther but Netanyahu's characterization implied that the Persian people's history of anti-Semitism and the pursuit of agenda to destroy the Jewish people is an ancient mission.
article_snippet: Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us," Netanyahu said.
article_snippet: As is already evident in the Persian-language social media, this will not go down well with ordinary Iranians, many of whom are not supporters of the Islamist system in Tehran and will resent the charge of eternal Persian anti-Semitism.