Israeli Ambassador hails Australia’s Iran stance

Israel’s new ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, says Israel and the United States are not formally pursuing regime change in Iran, but are “laying the foundation” for Iranians to determine their own future.

“We don’t define regime change as the objective of the operation,” Newman told a Zoom briefing hosted by the United Israel Appeal (UIA) on Tuesday afternoon.

“We are laying the foundation, setting the conditions for a regime change. But the regime change must come from the people of Iran. It won’t work if Israel or the United States tries to enforce a new leadership on the Iranian people.”

Newman said the joint US–Israel campaign was designed to remove what he called two “long-term existential threats” to Israel: Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile capability.

“This is a joint operation. It’s not an Israeli mission on its own,” he said.