Israel Watches Iran Protests Closely, but Is Wary of Intervening

Israelis would cheer if the Iranian regime were to fall. Yet former officials and analysts say that the Israeli leadership is unlikely to do much to try to precipitate a regime change, seeing the Iranian government as far from the brink of collapse and the current protests as insufficient to push it to that point. Israel is unlikely to attack Iran unless it is invited into a U.S.-led operation, or unless Iran attacks Israel first, they say. . . . Both [the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij] are highly motivated to defend the existing power structure because their fates are tied to that of the government, which has brutalized the Iranian people for years, said [UANI Senior Advisor] Zohar Palti, formerly the head of the Mossad’s intelligence directorate. “If the regime changes, they’re dead,” he added. “That’s the reason they’re killing people in the streets.”