Had Trump allowed Israel one final operation in Iran, the IDF would have chosen to destroy the uranium. The Mossad would have chosen an all-out effort to get Iranians to overthrow the mullahs.
A severe dispute has erupted, and still persists, between the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad over the ultimate goal of the war in Iran. The military views the removal of uranium from Iranian territory as the ultimate achievement. The Mossad, however, believes the objective is toppling the regime.
Even today, contrary to the retrospective cover-your-ass culture prevalent in our region, the Mossad insists on this. While the IDF settled for the amorphous definition of “creating the conditions to topple the regime,” the Mossad simply dropped the first four words.
From here, reality splits into two perspectives, sometimes entirely opposed. Senior IDF officials are intensely frustrated by the American decision not to seize the enriched uranium in a military operation. Thus, “Operation Roaring Lion” was halted with almost no improvement in the struggle against the Iranian nuclear program compared to “Operation Rising Lion” last June. Uranium, uranium, uranium, they chant. Take it, and you’ve erased the nuclear program.
