Purim: Persians again – 2026

Peloni:  As the brilliant philosopher and author, Yoram Hazony, recently noted, there has never been a Purim such as we have recently had.  The death of the modern day Haman alongside traditional celebrations being held underground, if at all, mark these distinctions as we can only hope and pray to see modern day miracles continue to be revealed in our favor in the coming reshaping of the region.

by Steve Kramer

Tapestry showing the story of Ahasuerus and Esther. The tapestry was donated by Adolf von Wylich in 1574. It was made in Wesel. By Ad Mesken© Ad Meskens – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia

The story of Purim in the Scroll of Ester takes place about 2,400 years ago. At that time the Persian Empire was the greatest empire in the world, comprising 127 provinces from India to Europe and Africa.  It was ruled by the Persian Emperor, Xerxes the Great, aka King Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus holds a significant place in Jewish history because of his role in the Purim story. Queen Ester’s entrapment of the evil Haman, the king’s prime minister, was a dangerous but necessary act to save the Jews from destruction. The king rewards the queen by allowing his Jewish subjects to defeat their enemies who had been preparing to slaughter them. The villain of the story is Haman, who ends up being hanged along with his 10 sons. Queen Ester and her cousin Mordechai are the heroes of Purim.

Today, in Persia’s successor  Iran, it’s the Islamic mullahs who run the country and have long planned to “throw the Jews into the sea,” causing the destruction of Israel (the Little Satan). That would be the first step to force Islam on the rest of the West: the US (the Big Satan) and Europe. Islam already has a strong foothold in Europe, including in the UK, France, and Belgium. Spain is probably the worst off because of its mass immigration of Muslims, mostly young men. Ireland and Norway are not far behind. Eastern European countries have resisted the mass immigration of Muslims and are friendly towards Israel.

March 3 is the date of Purim in Israel this year. Perhaps the mullahs know the Purim story. If so, the Islamic mullahs fear Israel for a good reason. Their 47-year rule over the various nationalities of Iran is very shaky and Israel, along with the US, is battling the regime. The war’s outcome will almost certainly be the end of their vicious, theocratic rule.

This year’s Purim celebrations in Israel have been muffled, with the best ones occurring underground in large safety areas shielded from very dangerous ballistic missiles! Just today, Israelis in the center of the country had to walk or run to safe rooms four or five times (I can’t keep track). Also today in the supermarket, we had to crowd into a safety area not once but twice. Nearly all Israelis are staying at home or close to it. Americans have never experienced anything like this: entering a safety room multiple times a day, or worse, when driving or being outside when a siren goes off. In addition, every mobile phone signals a loud alarm, even if the phone is turned off! Despite the inconvenience (to put it mildly), Israelis do go out to shop for food and necessities. Most other stores are closed.

This war will not end tomorrow, but within a few weeks I expect that the mullahs will have either been killed or have run away and the majority of the Iranians will rejoice in their freedom from oppression.

The US and Israel are a winning team in this war and in the run-up to it. While the UK was once America’s staunchest ally, it has proven itself to be of little use, ruled by a government which is afraid to take a major stand against Iran because of its relatively large percentage of Muslim citizens – approximately 16%. Its prime minister, Keir Starmer, is a joke. Does he assume that the Muslims in the UK are automatically on the side of the mullahs and not freedom loving Iranians? He’s extremely unpopular and is an example of the weak-kneed European leaders who govern Europe today. While President Trump has succeeded in getting most members of NATO to improve their weak militaries, the continent has become far less significant than in the years before WWII. Will Europe be run by Islamists by mid-21st century?

Spain is probably the worst example of European fecklessness: “Spain is refusing to support the U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran and has distanced itself from the position adopted by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which have shown themselves willing to undertake “proportionate defensive action”* in response to Tehran’s attacks on the Persian Gulf countries and Cyprus.” (https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-02/spain-refuses-to-provide-military-support-for-us-attack-on-iran-and-distances-itself-from-france-germany-and-the-uk.html)
*As to “proportionate defensive action”, what does that mean?

Israelis look forward to the end of this war, which will mean the finish of Iran’s role as the preeminent purveyor of terrorism around the world. Instead, I expect that Iran, with a population of about 90 million capable and smart citizens, will rise to a vaunted place among Western-oriented countries. The great majority of its people are anxious to be rid of the mullahs. Without them, Iran will be a great partner to the Western countries, including Israel, and will probably outshine a number of Europe’s current states.