Decapitate Iranian regime or boost his image: What's Netanyahu's endgame?
In launching the attack on Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be aiming to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, but could also be motivated by a desire to preserve his political prospects.
Israel's military operation against Iran, launched in the early hours of Friday morning, is being cast by the Israeli political leadership as a preemptive campaign aimed at undercutting Tehran’s nuclear program and preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose image has been tarred at home and abroad over the past 20 months, might be hoping to achieve other broader goals, including reshaping his own political image.
Degrade Iran's nuclear program
Throughout his decades-long political career, Netanyahu has pinpointed destroying Iran's nuclear program as a key priority. The urgency, from the Israeli leader's perspective, has increased. The Israeli military said in recent days that intelligence suggested "concrete progress" had been made "in the Iranian regime's efforts to produce weapons components adapted for a nuclear bomb."
