Israel has the intelligence capabilities to “put an end” to the threat from Hezbollah and can create the conditions for regime change in Iran during the war, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair MK Boaz Bismuth told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
As chair of the committee that oversees key defense issues, Bismuth expressed certainty about Israel’s military capabilities against Hezbollah, which has joined Iran in the ongoing war.
He said he was presented with IDF operational plans two months before Operation Roaring Lion, showing that the military “knows exactly what it has to do to put an end to the Hezbollah threat,” and is determined to stop cycles of violence.
Bismuth added that he expects Hezbollah to continue fighting but that Israel has the military advantage.
“Hezbollah has lost something that is really important to them, and that is Lebanese support. People in Lebanon are fed up,” he said.
'We must win the war'
He expects Hezbollah to “continue,” but noted that we are by far a stronger army and population.
“We must win the war against Hezbollah and Iran simultaneously,” Bismuth said.
Asked about how long Operation Roaring Lion is expected to go on for, his response was that Israel should not be “looking at the watch right now.”
Rather, “what you need to look at is the objective,” he explained. “I think that for too many years in Israel we looked at what we call in Hebrew the ‘exit strategy.’”
“After one day, one-and-a-half days; immediately [we say] okay, what is the exit? How are we finishing it? What will happen at the end? No. This is now a war, and you’ve got objectives.”
He listed one of the main objectives as eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat, saying that the issue extends far beyond Israel and affects the entire world.
“You don’t fight Iran every day. I mean, this is something that we have waited for. Iran is the issue, the challenge, the biggest threat, not only to us,” he said. “All over Iran, it’s ‘Death to America’; ‘Death to Israel’; and ‘Death to the West.’”
Another war objective is to weaken the Iranian regime. He said that he had been to Iran in his time working as a journalist before entering the Knesset and understood firsthand the need for regime change.
“I’ve been there, I’ve seen the people, I’ve seen those women, I’ve seen those students, I’ve seen those communities over there who pray for a change.”
He defined the regime as “first of all bad for its own people, for the history of Persia, even for the Muslim religion.” However, he noted that Israel’s role was only to create the conditions for regime change. “It’s not our role to choose [who will lead].”
“We respect the Iranian people. We’re not imposing a leader or a president. The Iranian people, whom I respect a lot, will make the choice, and this is how it should be,” Bismuth said.
He also addressed the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill that was being rapidly advanced in his committee.
It was decided on Tuesday to “set aside” advancements on the bill due to the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced.
The proposed law has faced heavy criticism, with opponents claiming it is a political measure intended to appease the haredi parties in Netanyahu’s coalition and would not effectively enforce conscription. Meanwhile, the IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent need for additional manpower, particularly after more than two years of war.
Opposition politicians celebrated the current outline of the draft bill being sidelined.
Bismuth explained that after the war, the plan was to continue advancing the legislation, though he could not say exactly when that would be.
“We shall go back to the draft bill,” he said. “The army needs soldiers, and the haredim have to go to the army, and this [the bill] is the balance.”
Bismuth told the Post that the media had “totally deformed” the bill for political reasons. “I’m very proud of my bill,” he said, claiming that adjustments made by his committee would increase the number of haredim drafted into the military.
He reiterated that the legislation was currently being shelved to maintain unity during the war. “We still have enough enemies, and the last thing Israel needs is to fight among us,” he said, emphasizing that he had “worked hard for this bill,” so that there would be unity.
Bismuth also explained that the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee was currently focused only on matters related to the war and the state budget, which must be passed in the Knesset by the end of the month.
“We have the obligation to win the war,” he said. “We have to win the war in a very clear way. The priority is that we win the war, and then we speak about all the rest.”