Reza Pahlavi's Historic 2023 Visit: Yad Vashem and a Prayer at the Western Wall

In April 2023, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi made a five-day visit to Israel — the first public visit by a prominent Iranian political figure. He was received and accompanied by Israel's then-intelligence minister, Gila Gamliel. On 17 April, Pahlavi attended the opening ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem, standing alongside President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He prayed at the Western Wall, placing written prayers into its stones, and paid a condolence call to the family of victims of a recent attack — scenes reported by The Times of Israel, Iran International, the Jerusalem Post, and Al Jazeera. Speaking to The Times of Israel, he said Iranians are "absolutely" ready to restore ties with Israel, describing the enmity between the two peoples as the work of the Islamic Republic rather than of Iran's history. The visit is the seed from which the "Cyrus Accords" idea grew — analyst Shay Khatiri coined the phrase weeks later, and Israeli minister Gila Gamliel would formalize it in 2025.