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Khamenei ‘not off limits,’ Israeli official tells ‘WSJ’

“Israel must aim for the collapse of the Iranian regime,” says MK Ohad Tal.

Khamenei
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivers a speech on Feb. 6, 2016. Credit: Official website of Ali Khamenei via Wikimedia Commons.

Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Iranian regime, is “not off limits,” an Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

“The official said Israel wasn’t ruling out any potential targets to destroy the nuclear program, including Khamenei, in response to a question from the Wall Street Journal in an interview,” the newspaper reported.

Religious Zionism Party Knesset member Ohad Tal told JNS on Sunday that while the initial IDF strikes were impressive, this was only the beginning.

“There is still much work to be done to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and its other military assets. We must not rest on our laurels—neither in offense nor in defense,” said Tal.

“Moving forward, I believe Israel must aim for the collapse of the Iranian regime,” he continued. “This is a historic opportunity—not only for Israel, but for the Iranian people, for the region, and indeed for the entire world—to rid itself of the evil, dictatorial regime of Iran, which has become the world’s leading sponsor of terror.”

Yesh Atid lawmaker Shelly Tal Meron told JNS on Sunday that the opposition fully supports the objectives of the operation and stands firmly behind the Israeli security forces.

“Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon—this would pose an existential threat to the State of Israel and to regional and global stability as a whole,” she said.

“The international community must remain united and determined in preventing Iran from crossing this dangerous threshold. Israel will continue to take all necessary measures to defend itself and ensure the safety of its citizens,” added Tal Meron.

See more from JNS Staff
Amelie Botbol is a diplomatic correspondent for JNS. Originally from Casablanca, Morocco, she made aliyah in 2014. Her reporting focuses on major international developments and the Israeli political arena, including weekly coverage from the Knesset. She also produced one of the world’s most extensive bodies of reporting on Israel’s hostage crisis following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks.
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