Jonathan Hessen, a Hudson Institute senior fellow, told “Washington Watch” he strongly agreed with strong words from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ending Iran’s murderous regime.
Netanyahu, who is currently running for re-election as prime minister, told a crowd of university students that Iran’s leaders must be stopped from their plans for a nuclear weapon and their funding of Hezbollah.
"Therefore, the only way to prevent this is to topple this regime," said Netanyahu, according to an Oct. 20 Jerusalem Post story.
Netanyahu is “completely right” to state that, Hessen said. The only way to finish the U.S.-Israel military attack on Iran is the “capitulation” of the current regime, he urged.
'We've gotten used to this regime that, for so many years now, has called for death to America, death to Israel," Hessen, himself a former IDF soldier, told show host Tony Perkins.
Netanyahu: Trump agrees with regime change
Netanyahu also told the students President Trump supports eliminating the regime, too, and the two discussed that issue as recently as Sunday, he said.
Netanyahu’s speech was criticized by Joe Kent, the former director of the National Terrorism Center, who views it as push by Israel for the U.S. to launch a major military attack against Iran.
A fierce critic of Netanyahu and his supposed influence on Trump, Kent (pictured at right) wrote on X the Netanyahu government “drove us into this war,” referring to Iran.
Kent also accused the Israelis of thwarting U.S. efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran.
That accusation comes with some evidence. In June, Trump criticized Netanyahu, and cursed him, in a heated phone call over Iran and U.S. attempts at a peace deal.
President Trump later confirmed the phone call, and his cursing, to New York Post reporter Miranda Devine.
“The fundamental issue is this administration’s inability to stop our junior partner from acting like our senior partner,” Kent, referring to the Israeli government, wrote.
But that Trump-Netanyahu confrontation could also suggest the U.S. president is not afraid to be blunt with Israel and Netanyahu, either.
Trump hints at pending attack
Operation Epic Fury killed numerous military and political leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, in the opening hours. But the regime did not collapse, and the power vacuum was quickly filled by the IRGC, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
President Trump’s plans for Iran’s future remain unclear, at least to the American public. With a majority of voters telling pollsters they oppose any more military action, the president has stated the U.S. won’t launch a military attack against Iran under after the midterm elections.
At a recent campaign stop in Alaska, President Trump told the crowd “wait till you see what we do to Iran.”
It was unclear if that was typical off-the-cuff Trump bluster, or a veiled threat, but approximately 10,000 sailors and Marines are headed toward Iran as part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.
Asked by show host Tony Perkins about what comes after the regime is toppled, Hessen seemed to acknowledge that is not an easy task moving forward.
“Are the Iranian people up to taking on the governance of the country if the regime is eliminated?” Perkins asked.
“There are still divisions and they need to unite,” Hessen advised. “This is a time for – whoever is going to make that step to come together – to realize that unless they're united, they won't be able to prevail.”
