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Israel has made its first public comment on Iran's apparent coercion of its Jewish minority into staging unprecedented anti-Israel rallies a month ago, telling VOA that it believes the Iranian Jews who participated in them had "no choice." "We understand perfectly circumstances," said Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry Deputy Director General for Public Diplomacy Emmanuel Nahshon in a Nov. 14 VOA Persian TV interview in Jerusalem. "We understand that when you live in a dictatorship, sometimes you have no choice. This is part of what they have been living through since 1979. So we understand the difficulties that they are facing," Nahshon said. Radical Shiite clerics opposed to Israel's existence have ruled Iran since seizing power in its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian Jews held rallies in five cities on Oct. 30 to denounce Israel for waging war against Hamas, which triggered the conflict with its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hundreds of Jews particip

United statesNew yorkIsrael generalSiamak dehghanpourAbraham cooperMichael lipinEmmanuel nahshonUs commission on international religious freedomUs state departmentIsraeli foreign affairs ministry deputySimon wiesenthal centerWiesenthal centerTehran jewish committeeNews centerIranian jewsPublic diplomacy emmanuel nahshon