How long the war with Iran will last—and whether Israelis may end up spending Pesach in bomb shelters—has become a central topic of public discussion since the war began. Former National Security Council chief Amidror offered a sober assessment of the possible duration of the war and its objectives in an interview on 103FM Radio on Monday.

According to Amidror, there is definitely a possibility that war could continue into Pesach. “I don’t see the problem with having the Seder in a shelter,” he said. “If destroying Iran requires sitting in shelters on Pesach, I think that’s a price worth paying.”

He added that US assessments indicate that an effective military campaign against Iran requires about six to eight weeks. “I believe the Americans calculated a target schedule of six to eight weeks so that the blow against Iran would be very severe,” he noted.

Amidror emphasized that the goal of the war is not necessarily the overthrow of the regime in Tehran. “It would be better if the regime were replaced, but I’m not sure that can be achieved from the air,” he explained. “If we can’t replace the regime, then we need to ensure only one thing—that the regime will no longer pose a threat. We can’t change a worldview.”

He explained that the Iranian regime is relatively weak, but there is currently no organized opposition capable of taking power. Therefore, the main goal should be to weaken the regime to the point that Israel and the US could act against it again if necessary.

“The Iranian regime is weak, but there is no opposition ready to take power. What we want is a regime weak enough so that we can return and destroy what we need to if necessary,” he said.

One of the key issues of the war is the question of the enriched uranium that remains in Iran. Amidror believes that seizing the material is not out of the question, although it would be a complex operation.

“We can make sure there are no Iranians in the area and take it if we know where it is,” he explained. “You can create a protected bubble from the air, send in a force with proper air support, and remove the material.”

He added that the material itself is not particularly dangerous in its current state. “It’s stored in containers that are not very large. Based on rough calculations I made from unofficial papers I read, we’re talking about roughly twenty to thirty containers.”

Also on Monday, Sagiv Asulin, a former senior Mossad official, hinted that dramatic developments are taking place behind the scenes during the war.

Speaking in an interview with Galey Yisrael, Asulin said that some of the operations carried out in Iran have not yet been revealed to the public.

“I can say that major things have happened in Iran, on the scale of the pager operation and perhaps even bigger,” he said. “They may not look dramatic on camera, but with time, we will hear about them, and they are no less remarkable.”

He added that further significant actions remain under wraps but may be revealed as the war progresses.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)