Israel had a close relationship with Iran before 1979.

While the Book of Esther is one source of historical closeness, the more important one is Cyrus The Great allowing Jews who had been exiled to Babylon (which had been conquered by Persia) to return and rebuild the Temple.

This is considered a historical debt which Israel is repaying today destroying the terrorist Islamic regime that has enslaved the Iranian People.
Bibi has spoken of this directly many times, in Hebrew and Farsi and it is taken seriously by most Israelis.