Yoav Gallant says Israel should steer Iran protests 'with an invisible hand'
Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday morning that Israel needs to “steer” the protests sweeping Iran “with an invisible hand”.
“The regime in Iran must fall, and we need to exercise strategic patience, while remaining ready to act when is necessary,” Gallant, who has had a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio.
“At this moment, when what matters most is the mass action on the ground, we need to stay in the background and steer things with an invisible hand.”
Protests in Iran began on 28 December and Israeli officials have remained relatively silent in public about any possible Israeli involvement.
Last week, Israeli news outlet Channel 12 reported that Israeli security forces had advised political figures not to comment on what is happening inside Israel’s great regional rival, as this could cause “great damage” to Israel.
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Despite the warning, this week several Israeli politicians have commented on the Iranian protests.
“There is a great deal to be done behind the scenes, but I think it’s good that it stays that way,” Gallant said on Monday in a separate interview on Iran with Channel 13.
“The real energy is not in air strikes but in the actions of millions,” the former military officer said when asked whether Israel should attack Iran in order to topple the government in Tehran.
“That’s why all other measures, even when they involve significant military operations, are ultimately tactical,” Gallant said. “The power needs to be placed in the hands of the Iranian people.”
US and Israeli interference in Iran
Rumours of US and Israeli interference in the Iranian protests have swirled from their beginning.
An Israeli security source previously told Middle East Eye that Iran has been “thoroughly penetrated for years” by Israeli intelligence.
'The Mossad is spreading its messages (and manipulations) to Iran and to the world through Israeli reporters and commentators'
- Nir Gontarz, Israeli journalist
In a post on social media, Haaretz journalist Nir Gontarz wrote that figures with connections to the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, are briefing Israeli TV reporters and guests on what to say about Iran.
“The Mossad is spreading its messages (and its manipulations) to Iran and to the world through Israeli reporters and commentators, over the heads of the viewers,” he said.
“Journalists seem to have learned nothing from the Qatar affair,” Gontarz wrote, referring to the recent "Qatargate" revelations about how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides fed senior Israeli journalists with false information that favoured Qatar.
“Either they know they are part of Israel’s psychological warfare apparatus and choose not to disclose it, or they are once again displaying extreme professional negligence,” the Haaretz journalist said.
Gontarz added that “figures connected to the Mossad in one way or another (whose identities cannot be pointed out or named due to gag orders) are invited to the studios and present their ‘opinions’ with no disclosure whatsoever”.
Israel supports the protests
On Sunday, Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting that “Israel is closely monitoring developments in Iran.”
“The people of Israel, and the entire world, are watching in awe at the extraordinary courage of the citizens of Iran,” the prime minister said.
“Israel supports their struggle for freedom and strongly condemns the mass slaughter of innocent civilians,” said Netanyahu, who, like Gallant, is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu voiced his hope that the “Persian nation will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny”.
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli uploaded on Monday a picture of him alongside Reza Pahlavi, son of the shah removed from power by the Iranian revolution of 1979 and a prominent US-based opposition figure.
“Millions of Iranians have risen to reclaim their freedom and restore the glory of Iran,” Chikli wrote. “They look to the free world to stand with them against the ruthless Islamic Republic. We cannot, and will not, fail them.”
On Monday, Israeli out i24news reported that Netanyahu and Israel’s security forces are concerned by the talks that have taken place between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and White House envoy Steve Witkoff.
Israel is reportedly concerned that talks between the two will deal only with Iran's nuclear programme and will enable the Iranian government to cool down the protests.
Iran accuses Israel
On Friday, Araghchi, during a visit to Lebanon, accused the US and Israel of encouraging the protests in order to destabilise the Islamic Republic, according to Turkish news outlet Anadolu.
Recently, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an ardent advocate of regime change in Iran, wrote on his X account: “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also, to every Mossad agent walking beside them.”
Iranian protesters have denied this accusation, as unrest erupted over rising prices of basic goods. One protester who spoke to Middle East Eye said that “every time we get tired of this situation and come out to the streets, we are suddenly called Israelis or CIA agents”.
Around 2,000 people have been killed in Iran’s protests, an Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, blaming “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
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