Israel had planned to create the conditions for a regime change through a Kurdish invasion, mass protests, and the promotion of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an alternative leader, but the United States blocked the central operation, while deep divisions emerged within the Mossad, the Israeli army (IDF), and the Cabinet.
Although the official objectives of the “Roaring Lion” operation have never been made public, discussions with numerous military and political sources suggest that the central purpose was the drastic weakening or removal of the threats that Iran poses to Israel, by creating the necessary military conditions for a regime change in Tehran, writes ynetnews.com.
A form resulting from compromise
The formulation of the objective was, according to the cited sources, the result of compromises, including with the Israeli army. From the beginning of the conflict, the military leadership specified that it did not have the capacity to determine, on its own, a regime change. For the General Staff, the priority was causing strategic damage to Iran and gradually eliminating its military capabilities, with the support given to Mossad considered a secondary effort.
A security official explained that the military was aware of the complexity, perhaps even the impossibility, of this objective and did not wish to be involved in a war with such an absolute goal that it could potentially drag on indefinitely. Nevertheless, the Cabinet voted for an objective that, in practice, amounted to an attempt at regime change.
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