The last ten months have seen increasing attention by Iran, its proxies, and their media on what they believe to be increasing instability within Israeli society.
This is a focus of frequent articles and analyses in places like Al-Mayadeen, which is considered pro-Iran, and also Iranian media linked to the IRGC.
The theme is generally one of glee in which they praise protests in Israel and believe this shows Israel is hopelessly divided. Now they have a new focus: lawlessness.
An article on Iran’s Tasnim news site focused on the “continuation of insecurity in the Zionist regime: explosions and shootings again took victims.” The article focused on a series of incidents reported on Sunday including a shooting and bombing in which criminal gangs clashed with each other and with the police.
From Tehran’s perspective, this is not just a story of criminals clashing, for them this is about internal problems in Israeli society and the inability of law enforcement to deal with these problems.
Rash of crime brings up memories of 2021 violence
It is a reminder of the 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas when there were clashes in Lod and other cities in Israel. The media at the time also focused on these clashes. Since that conflict, there have been increased attempts by Iran to “unify” various fronts against Israel. This has meant increasing tensions on the northern border and also in the West Bank. From Tehran’s perspective, increasing numerous small threats is important and can benefit Iran’s proxies and destabilize Israel.
This is why the current article in Iranian media focusing on the clashes between criminals and Israeli police is important. It comes amid renewed focus by Al-Mayadeen on Palestinian Islamic Jihad and tensions with Israel.
Overall the context is clear, Iran believes it can benefit from internal problems in Israel. As such, this also means Tehran boasts less about its missile, drone, and nuclear programs. It focuses on other strategies such as working with Russia and China and attempting to get around US sanctions.