But this changed soon afterward, he said, as a \u201ckind of dialogue\u201d emerged on the matter between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump when the anti-government protests erupted in the Islamic Republic at the end of December.<\/p>\n
The protests threw the Islamic Republic into chaos. Thousands of protesters were killed at the hands of regime forces, with activist groups putting the toll in the tens of thousands.<\/p>\n
Israel and the US were taken aback by the protests, Katz added, explaining that their magnitude created a concern within Israel that the domestic unrest could provoke the regime to launch a preemptive strike on Israel, before Israel could take advantage of the strategic window that had opened up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt surprised everyone. The unrest didn\u2019t just create an opportunity \u2014 there was also serious concern at the time that, because of the pressure on the regime from the protests, the regime might launch a preemptive missile strike on Israel and on American forces in the region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\t At that time, Katz said, discussion about toppling the regime \u201ccame up\u201d between Washington and Jerusalem, and the two sides reached an agreement \u201con cooperation in defining the objectives\u201d of an operation against Iran. They began talking, he said, about \u201ccreating the conditions for the Iranian people to begin acting to overthrow the regime; we began advancing those objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n From that moment on, \u201cThere was joint planning, and afterward a joint operational planning process,\u201d Katz said.<\/p>\n He insisted, contrary to some suggestions, that neither Israel nor the US dragged the other into attacking Iran, claiming the decisions by both countries were made independently in light of the perceived threats posed by the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n Singing Netanyahu\u2019s praises, the defense minister \u2014 a member of the premier\u2019s Likud party \u2014 said that he believed \u201cthe only person in the world, the only leader who could have created such cooperation with President Trump, is Benjamin Netanyahu.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Katz was pressed both in his interview with Channel 12 and a separate interview with the Kan public broadcaster on the fact that this was the second time Israel has gone to war with Iran within a year, having fought a 12-day war against it in June 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cWe met here after Operation Rising Lion,\u201d Channel 12\u2019s Dana Weiss told Katz. \u201cYou probably remember what you said there:\u00a0\u2018I can say for sure that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon as a result of what we did.’\u201d<\/p>\n She recalled that Katz had told her at the time that it would take \u201cyears\u201d for Iran to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and questioned how, despite those promises, Israel was once again targeting those same programs while still coming under Iranian missile fire.<\/p>\n \u201cWe eliminated the Iranian nuclear program as it was and had been for many years,\u201d Katz said, adding that Israel was acting now to prevent any attempts to rebuild such programs, and rejecting the possibility that Israel had exaggerated the success of the June 2025 strikes.<\/p>\n Regime change as an opportunity, not a goal<\/p>\n Pushed on whether Israel could expect to find itself in the midst of yet another war with Iran in another eight months\u2019 time, Katz did not answer the question directly, noting instead that the current assault on the Islamic Republic was \u201cmuch broader\u201d than the previous one, and that Israel was using \u201cthree times more force\u201d than it had then.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope this will end with the Iranian people overthrowing the regime,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n Questioned on the same matter by Kan TV\u2019s Suleiman Maswadeh, who asked Katz if he could promise that this would be the last round of fighting with Iran for the foreseeable future, Katz declined to do so, saying instead that he would not engage in \u201cabsolutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning to the matter of regime change, which has at times been included on various lists of goals that the US and Israel are hoping to achieve in Iran, Maswadeh inquired as to whether the war would continue until the regime has been \u201ccompletely changed.\u201d<\/p>\n This, Katz said, \u201cdepended on the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is to destroy Iran\u2019s ability to return to its nuclear program, to destroy its ability to return to producing masses of balistic missiles, to destroy its ability to help all of its proxies in the region and to renew its operations to destroy Israel,\u201d Katz said. \u201cAnd the issue of the regime\u2019s collapse and replacement, that is something that we expect, and and want to make possible for the people of Iran to carry out.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz\u2019s explanation of Israel\u2019s goals would appear to put it in step with Washington, which has said in recent days that the stated aims are limited to destroying Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program and its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ceasing its support for proxy terror groups. Trump himself urged the Iranian people, at the start of the US-Israel attacks on Saturday, to \u201ctake over your government\u201d when the attacks are over. \u201cIt will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIn this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260228__99CR6Z3__v1__HighRes__ManifestationLibertePourLIran-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tProtesters hold a placard which reads \u201cThank you Trump and Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu)\u201d during a demonstration \u201cFreedom for Iran\u201d in front of the Brandenburger Gate in Berlin, on February 28, 2026. (Photo by RALF HIRSCHBERGER \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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