Israeli experts weigh in: Tel Aviv administration will not be able to completely eliminate it

Israel announced on June 13 that it had begun attacks on Iran, claiming to "prevent the production of nuclear weapons and eliminate missile capabilities." Iran continues to respond to these attacks with ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Retired Ambassador Alon Liel stated, "Israel has another goal, even if it does not declare it, which is to topple the regime in Iran. I do not think we can completely eliminate nuclear ambitions, but we can delay them. As for the regime, whether an opposition forms from the grassroots and with public support depends on the Iranian people."

With the start of the attacks on Iran, dissenting voices in Israeli society have begun to fade, and even critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have supported the rhetoric of "preventing the threat" through attacks on Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz alluded to the goal of toppling the Iranian regime, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced many times before, by stating that "Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei no longer has a future."

Whether the Israeli attacks will succeed in their stated goals of "ending the nuclear program and neutralizing the missile threat," whether the Iranian regime will be toppled, and what conditions will emerge in the region after this conflict remain uncertain.

Alon Liel, former Chargé d'Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Ankara and Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Gideon Levy, a columnist for the newspaper Haaretz, shared their views with an AA reporter, stating that the attacks on Iran have caused the "main issue" for Israel—the Palestinian issue—to fall off the agenda, that the attacks on Iran have increased support for the Netanyahu government, and that even if the Tel Aviv administration's main goal is regime change in Iran, the probability of success is low.

"IT DEPENDS ON THE OPPOSITION THAT WILL FORM IN IRANIAN SOCIETY"

Retired Ambassador Liel said that until Israel's attacks on Iran began, they were facing a "tsunami of international criticism" due to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, but that the attacks on Iran changed this momentum, Europe supported the attacks, and attention shifted entirely in this direction.

Pointing out that the Israeli public has been "full of revenge and has no peace on its agenda" since October 7, 2023, when the attacks from Gaza began, Liel stated that the vision of "eternal war" would harm Israel and Jews around the world.

Liel, however, underscored that "the majority of the public supports the attacks on Iran."

Pointing out that Israel has delayed Iran's nuclear program and dealt a major blow to its missile capability with the attacks, Liel stated that he does not believe Tehran's nuclear ambitions can be completely eliminated.

Retired Ambassador Liel expressed that "the attacks should now stop and that an opportunity has arisen for the US to sit at the negotiating table more strongly."

Noting that Israel's primary goal, even if not directly declared, is to topple the Iranian regime, Liel said:

"Israel has another goal, even if it does not declare it, which is to topple the regime in Iran. I do not think we can completely eliminate nuclear ambitions, but we can delay them. As for the regime, whether an opposition forms from the grassroots and with public support depends on the Iranian people."

Liel claimed that "they feel the threat from Iran to Israel deeply and that Iran's proxy forces have been attacking Israel for about 2 years," and said the following regarding the view of the Israeli public:

"I have been in the shelters in the city where I live 60 to 70 times. For Israelis in the north and south, it was more than that. So the Iranian threat was very concrete, very frightening. I think public support for the attack on Iran in Israel is very high."

The Ambassador assessed that the Palestinian issue lies at the root of Israel's attacks in the region, and that tensions will not end without granting the rights of the Palestinians and reaching a two-state solution.

"THESE ATTACKS COULD ALSO RESULT IN A CATASTROPHE"

Levy, a Haaretz columnist known for his criticism of Israel's violence against Palestinians and discriminatory occupation policies, also stated, "We do not know how close Iran is to having a nuclear weapon. Israel claims it is very close. Then I can see this operation as legitimate."

Levy, however, pointed out that the US thinks Iran is still very far from producing nuclear weapons.

Stating that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has "dedicated his life to ensuring Iran does not possess nuclear weapons," Levy noted that Netanyahu sees the defeat of Hezbollah and the green light from the US as an opportunity, saying, "I thought this was a dangerous adventure. We do not know how it will end yet, we are in the middle of the event."

Haaretz columnist Levy stated that "support for attacks on Iran in Israeli society is over 90 percent" because "Iran, which threatens to destroy Israel, having a nuclear weapon is seen as an existential issue," and therefore support for Netanyahu has increased.

Levy said, "We are still in the middle of it, this could also result in a catastrophe. We do not know how it will end yet."

Stating that Netanyahu believes the only way to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons is through regime change, Levy said that even if everything is destroyed with the attacks today, Netanyahu thinks that as long as the regime continues, new capacity will emerge.

Levy stated that although Netanyahu avoids directly saying they are targeting regime change after starting the attacks and only implies it, Defense Minister Katz has expressed this openly.

Pointing out that although the US has tried to carry out regime change in various countries, it has not been successful as an external power, the Israeli writer assessed, "I do not believe that one country can change the regime of another country. I do not know if this is the plan, but it is certain that they want to see regime change in Iran."

Levy stated that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad has infiltrated deep into Iran and showed the following as an example of the Tel Aviv administration aiming for regime change:

"Israel bombed Iran's television channel. This is about changing the regime, because the television channel has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear capacity. Uranium is not produced or enriched at the television channel. They did this because it was a symbol of this regime."

Levy, who sees the probability of Israel's attacks directly causing regime change as low, stated that these attacks could pave the way for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, but that Israel cannot control the developments that will happen in the country afterwards, saying, "What happens after this depends entirely on the Iranian people."

Levy, just like retired ambassador Liel, pointed out that the source of all problems is the issue of Israel's occupation of Palestine and the Palestinians, and ended his words as follows:

"Whatever they do, this is the essence of the problem. As long as the occupation and apartheid continue, resistance will continue, and as long as resistance continues, Israel will not be safe."