“Israelis are asking, ‘Is there any way to help these people?’ as if all the tension between Israel and Iran didn’t exist,” said Eldad Pardo, an Iran expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem…

Until Sunday, Israeli officials had been reluctant to support the protesters openly because they feared it could cause more harm than good. The new outspokenness appeared to reflect a belief that reaching out to moderate forces in Iran would be in Israel’s long-term interest.

“The Iranian people are sympathetic toward Israel,” said Kamal Pinhasi, an Iranian Jewish immigrant who is organizing Tuesday’s demonstration. “Thirty years of the regime’s brainwashing has damaged this to an extent, but the overall sympathy is there.”