Citrinowicz believes Netanyahu is privately pushing the US towards maximalist strikes aimed at regime change in Iran, and that when Netanyahu reportedly urged Trump to hold back earlier this month, he says, it was because he viewed the planned US attack as “too small”.
Netanyahu has previously urged Iranians to “stand up” to their regime, in an interview with Fox News last year.
US president Donald Trump is currently considering a range of actions against Iran – they are reported to include both limited symbolic strikes and full-blown regime change. In public, he has alternated military threats with the offer of fresh negotiations.
While many US allies are warning that trying to unseat Iran’s leadership carries huge risks for the region, many in Israel see potential benefits for their security.
By changing the regime in Tehran, Israel would hope to end the threat from Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the possibility that it would one day acquire nuclear weapons too.
It would also further weaken Iran’s proxy militia around the region, including Hezbollah, which still has up to 25,000 missiles and rockets across the border in Lebanon according to Israel’s Alma research institute.
In contrast, some Israeli lawmakers believe a limited strike, or even a new deal with Iran, could carry bigger risks for Israel’s security by leaving the regime in place.
“When you deal with total evil, you don’t act limited,” said Moshe Tur-Paz, a member of the Yesh Atid opposition party who sits on the Defence Committee of Israel’s parliament.
“There’s a consensus that Israel should act much stronger and so should the Western world. When it comes to our worst enemies like Iran, there are no big differences. We all understand the threat.”
Another round of conflict that left the regime intact would not be worth the price paid in Iran’s retaliation, many say.
During the 12-day war last year, when Israel and the US attacked Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile sites, Iran fired back hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israeli towns and cities. Some evaded Israel’s vaunted air-defences, slamming into apartment blocks in Tel Aviv and killing at least 28 people.