What's with the new anti-Israeli rhetoric

Having read Kayhan newspaper's editorial, it's now obvious that the new anti-Israeli line of the Ahmadinejad and his allies is a change in policy, not a random personal rant by Ahmadinejad. But why this and why now?

• Diversion: Iran, because of the deep internal rows especially among conservatives, has become a very dysfunctional state and the latest disasters (plane crash and Tehran's air pollution) are only two visible sings of that. So it makes sense for the government to divert the attention of the people inside Iran and the global community from these horrible incidents. Also, Ahmadinejad is trying to distract his base from the promises he'd given about improving people's living standard and distributing the oil revenue equally among the populous.

• Seeking support for nuclear program: It's very easy to become popular in a Muslim county, even among it's educated middle-class (if the had such thing), by ranting against Israel. The fundamentalists in Iran, who now effectively run the entire country, think they'd need the Arab world's public support for preventing stronger international pressure, sanctions or even targeted military attack. Ahmadinjead is a populist and his advisers have shown him how to manipulate unsophisticated public opinion in Arab countries when it comes to Israel.

• Ousting moderate diplomats: There are still many reform-minded and moderate top and middle managers in the new government from the good old days of Khatami. It's obviously very hard for Ahmadinjead to get rid of all of them. However he can say things that would embarrass the moderate diplomats and make it impossible for them to stay. No one wants to be part of a diplomacy machine which is already condemned by the UN and is labeled as racist and fundamentalist.