Tensions between
Iran and Israel have escalated this week over a series of cyber-attacks and a poster promoted by the Supreme Leader which called for a “final solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The poster was reportedly published on the official website of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and carried the slogan “the final solution: resistance until referendum.” The same image was promoted by Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, in a message on
Twitter where he called for
Palestinians to hold a
referendum on their preferred system of governance. In a separate post on Twitter, the Supreme Leader said that Iran would support “any group or any nation anywhere...who opposes the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel. The phrase “final solution” evokes the Nazis’ attempt to exterminate the Jewish population during the
Holocaust. A spokesman for
Benjamin Netanyahu, the
Israeli prime minister, responded: He [Khamenei] should know that any regime that threatens to destroy the State of Israel faces a similar danger.” Iran has ramped up its anti-Israel rhetoric ahead of al-Quds Day, an annual event held by the regime in solidarity with Palestinians. But the tensions are also being fueled by Israel's proposed annexation of parts of the West Bank later this year, which has drawn criticism from Arab nations, the EU and
Britain. Earlier this week the Palestinian Authority claimed it was scrapping all security agreements with Israel and the US over the annexation plan, which has been given the green light by
Washington. The online row came amid reports that Israel had launched a cyber attack on a key Iranian port earlier this week, wreaking havoc on the shipping industry. Aviv Kochavi, a Lieutenant-General in the Israel Defence Forces, has implied that the Jewish state was behind the attack.