Iranian opposition figure to arrive in Israel and speak at Knesset

Vahid Beheshti, an independent journalist and Iranian human rights activist based in London, completed a 72-day hunger strike followed by a sit-in last month.

 British-Iranian journalist and human rights activist, Vahid Beheshti sits outside Britain's Foreign Office in London, Britain April 10, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/Anna Gordon)
British-Iranian journalist and human rights activist, Vahid Beheshti sits outside Britain's Foreign Office in London, Britain April 10, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Anna Gordon)

Iranian opposition figure and activist Vahid Beheshti will arrive in Israel to voice support for the Jewish state at the Knesset on Tuesday, the Israel Victory Project announced in a press statement on Monday.

An independent journalist and Iranian human rights activist based in London, Beheshti completed a 72-day hunger strike followed by a sit-in last month, calling on the British government to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror organization.

The IVP release noted that the hunger strike and sit-in were also conducted in protest of the Ayatollah regime.

Beheshti will speak as part of the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC), which will center on the question of what Israel’s victory will look like at the end of the war.

The conference, including members of both the coalition and the opposition, is led by MK Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionist Party and Evgeny Sova of Yisrael Beytenu in collaboration with the IVP.

 British-Iranian activist Vahid Beheshti sits outside Britain's Foreign Office in London, Britain April 10, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Anna Gordon)
British-Iranian activist Vahid Beheshti sits outside Britain's Foreign Office in London, Britain April 10, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Anna Gordon)

The Israel Victory Project’s website states that the organization opposes Islamism and protects Western values from “Middle Eastern threats.” Further, its stated mission is to steer US and Israeli policy toward supporting an Israeli “victory over the Palestinians to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Fighting Iran's regime, not just its arms

According to the project, Beheshti is coming to express support for Israel on behalf of the Iranian people and to urge the Jewish state to focus its attention on the Iranian regime rather than just its proxy arms: terror organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

The KIVC will feature Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel and National Missions Minister Orit Struck, as well as other government and security officials.

The Israel Victory Project added that during the conference, four separate plans and perspectives for building a different reality in Gaza after the war will be presented.