According to assessments by Israeli political sources and officials in the Trump administration, the current confrontation between Israel and Iran is expected to last several weeks.
The ultimate goal for both Israel and the United States is to return to negotiations over a new nuclear agreement that would eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.
However, senior security officials believe that despite Israel’s successes in the early days of the war, it must avoid being drawn into a long war of attrition.
“Iran will not wave a white flag,” they say. “Israel must shift its strategy and aim to bring down the extremist Iranian regime.”
Iran was caught off guard and suffered a severe military and moral blow, but it remains a strong regional power with a jihadi ideology. The regime’s top priority is survival.
Iran still has a significant stockpile of ballistic missiles and drones and could adopt a strategy of “drip attacks” to wear Israel down over time, striking at its home front and economy.
Therefore, the officials stress, Israel must act swiftly to end the military campaign by eliminating Iran’s leadership and hitting strategic assets that could destabilize the regime.
A senior Israeli defense source said, “No immunity should be granted to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the head of the Iranian terror snake and the man actively seeking to destroy the State of Israel.
Even Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman referred to him in 2019 as ‘the Hitler of the Middle East.’ Khamenei attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu via Hezbollah, and he must be eliminated.”
Senior officials emphasize that Iran is now behaving like a wounded animal and is extremely dangerous.
Since Israel would struggle to fully destroy Iran’s nuclear program without U.S. military assistance, it must use all capabilities at its disposal.
The core lesson from the October 7, 2023, massacre is that Israel must neutralize the “Axis of Evil” led by Iran and prevent it from recovering and obtaining nuclear weapons.
Israel must capitalize on the historic American backing from President Trump. This is a one-time opportunity, and Israel should pursue it to the fullest.
From Israel’s perspective, every action is legitimate: the elimination of Khamenei and his leadership circle, crippling Iran’s oil industry and power stations, and the destruction of Iranian banks and cash reserves.
According to Israeli intelligence assessments, the majority of Iranians wish to see the fall of their oppressive regime.
Israel has changed the rules of engagement with Iran, seizing the initiative and launching an impressive demonstration of military and intelligence capabilities. But it must finish the job and exhaust every means to bring down the Ayatollah’s regime.
Israel should avoid harming innocent Iranian civilians as much as possible in order not to unite them around the regime. Instead, it must aim to create significant cracks in the regime’s foundation that will encourage the Iranian public to rise up and try to overthrow it.
“Iran will never give up its nuclear project—it’s one of the regime’s core pillars of survival. Therefore, while Israel continues to target this project, even if it cannot fully destroy it, it must simultaneously strike at the regime’s leadership. Israel has excellent intelligence and has already proven in the opening round that it can decapitate Iran’s entire military command. Now is the time to move on to eliminating the political leadership,” said a senior defense source.
