Israeli Officials: Regime Change was Never the Goal
Defense sources told The Jerusalem Post that the Israel Defense Forces entered the conflict focused primarily on weakening Iran’s military capabilities and strategic threat to Israel. The military hoped its operations might create conditions for change, but officials never believed military action alone would bring about the fall of the regime.
Israeli defense officials say that despite public speculation, regime change in Iran has never been an official military objective of the current war.
Defense sources told The Jerusalem Post that the Israel Defense Forces entered the conflict with more limited goals focused primarily on weakening Iran’s military capabilities and strategic threat to Israel. The military hoped its operations might create conditions that could eventually allow internal opposition in Iran to challenge the government, but officials never believed military action alone would bring about the fall of the regime.
According to the sources, the expectation was that any political change in Tehran would ultimately depend on the Iranian public.
The distinction contrasts at times with public statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has alternated between calling on Iranians to rise up immediately and describing regime change as a longer-term possibility.
Defense officials say the military prefers the public to judge the war’s success based on its defined operational goals rather than expectations of immediate political transformation in Iran.
One of those core goals, according to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, is the destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile launch capabilities.
In a recorded speech released March 5, Zamir emphasized that eliminating the majority of Iran’s missile launchers was the most urgent priority. Intelligence assessments indicated that Iran had been producing between 150 and 200 missiles per month and was on track to reach production levels of around 300 per month.
At that rate, officials warned, Iran could have doubled or even tripled its missile arsenal within a few years, potentially overwhelming Israel’s missile defense systems.
Zamir also said Israeli operations were aimed at dismantling Iran’s broader military capabilities and isolating the regime strategically.
“We are stripping the regime of its military capabilities, strategically isolating them, and bringing them to a point of weakness unlike any it has known,” he said.
While some observers interpreted those remarks as suggesting a push for regime change, defense officials say the wording was deliberate and reflected the military’s actual objectives.
In addition to targeting missile infrastructure, Israeli forces have also carried out strikes on a range of nuclear-related sites and military facilities across Iran.
Israeli officials acknowledge that while the current campaign could weaken the Iranian leadership and potentially create conditions for internal unrest, the ultimate fate of the regime remains uncertain and would depend largely on developments inside Iran itself.