Bennett says toppling Iran's regime would be strategic goal of his future government

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday that if he returns to office after the next election, his government will make the downfall of Iran's regime a central strategic objective.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, the leader of the Together party argued that Israel must move beyond containing Tehran's regional influence and instead work to undermine the Islamic Republic itself.

"Hamas is rebuilding in Gaza, Hezbollah is rearming in Lebanon and continues to threaten our soldiers and citizens," Bennett said. "The head of the octopus, the regime in Tehran, is still standing."

Bennett warned that Israel cannot afford to wait until Iran acquires a nuclear weapon but said military action alone would not be sufficient to neutralize the threat.

Instead, he called for a comprehensive strategy combining economic, cyber, diplomatic and informational pressure. His proposal includes further weakening Iran's economy, expanding cyber operations aimed at disrupting the regime's security and repression apparatus, increasing support for Iran's minority communities, and exposing corruption among the country's leadership.

Bennett emphasized that Israel's objective should not be directed at the Iranian people, whom he described as largely supportive of greater freedom, but at the regime itself.

"The Iranian people are not our enemy," he said, arguing that lasting change would come through the gradual erosion of the Islamic Republic's power structures rather than through military force alone.