End of an Era: "Enemies" returns to the fall of Khamenei — and misses one thing | Aaron Berlin
"Enemies" concludes its season with an episode on the final days of Ali Khamenei, but it is precisely this that highlights what is missing: the series summarizes the difficult years in the life of the former Supreme Leader, but often forgets the interests, contradictions, and the big picture.
The choice by 'Kan' to end the current season of "Enemies" with the final year of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei raises quite a few questions. All the other leaders whose rule is described in the various episodes of the series are alive and active to this day. Khamenei's death, despite being a historical event, by no means closed the book on Israel's struggle with external threats. On the contrary, it only highlighted how decapitating the head of the snake, the octopus, the axis of evil, or any other image, was the beginning of a new phase in Israel's engagement with the leaders of countries in the region.
Since "Enemies" had already dedicated an entire episode to the cruel leader of Iran, it sought to focus on October 7 and the myriad events that followed. According to all the interviewees in the program, Khamenei's decision not to join the brutal Hamas attack so as not to be seen as being dragged along by Yahya Sinwar marked the beginning of the deterioration of his regime until his death last February. Khamenei is presented there as a weak leader, one who made every possible mistake and fell into all the traps that Israel and the USA set for him: from the decision to attack Israel and the brutal suppression of protests to the stage where, it is claimed, he had already effectively lost control of his country.
The entire season was as one would expect from a public broadcasting corporation series: polished, fast-paced, and interviewing people, most of whom do not appear daily on news broadcasts. The professionalism of the series only highlighted what was missing from it — an additional angle that is not military or intelligence-based. When the series dealt with Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Ahmad al-Shara, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it mainly repeated most of the information echoed in the news with small additions. Its focus almost always passed through the question of how the leaders seek to destroy Israel without dwelling on the differences between them and the different diplomatic attitude that Israel took towards them.
The only exception was Sheikha Moza, whose activity was apparently new to most viewers. The fascinating episode followed the woman who effectively rules Qatar and tried to trace her motives and the well-oiled system she built to support terrorism. However, treating Moza as an "enemy" just like the others flattens the discussion and does not allow for a deep understanding of her different interests. It is clear that Sheikha Moza is not interested in Israel existing, but her motives in the series seem different from those of al-Julani, for example.
Only once in the episode about Khamenei was there a reference to the motive behind the desire to destroy Israel. The claim that arose concerned it being the only Western country in the region and the "bone in the throat" of the Islamic revolution. However, the series as a whole did not deal enough with the ties that Khamenei managed with Turkey, Qatar, and Hamas, which hold a completely different ideology. It did not give enough weight to his "restraint," which turned out to be a very significant factor in the region in light of the more extreme approach of his successors.
"Enemies" does indeed summarize the final days of Israel's great hater beautifully, but it does not dare to open up charged issues. All the speakers shared a fairly similar narrative and, except for a few statements by American politicians, did not challenge Israel's approach to the murderous regime. The episode also does not address the Mossad's attempt, according to reports, to crown Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as leader after the regime's fall, a move that before its publication would have been unthinkable. The overthrow of the regime, had it succeeded, would have had to come alongside negotiations and agreements with people who have blood on their hands. Reports of contacts for an agreement between Israel and Syria under the leadership of al-Shara, a mass murderer and former jihadist, prove this.
The Middle East may change endlessly, but it will likely be able to provide the corporation with many more seasons of "Enemies." At the beginning of each episode, the series notes that it tries to build a profile for each leader just like in intelligence work, but often forgets the big picture. From watching the episodes, it seems that if Israel had disappeared from the map, the wars over this small piece of land would have continued, and that for quite a few leaders, clashing with Israel serves more than one interest. Khamenei left behind a broken country and a legacy in danger, but he also left quite a few achievements. Although he is no longer among the living, obituaries, as is customary in Israel, are still too early.
