Israel Urges Iranian Uprising While Privately Saying They'd "Get Slaughtered"

"Israeli officials relayed the message to U.S. diplomats in a cable that circulated in the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Friday. The cable said that Israeli officials assess that the Iranian government is "not cracking" and will "fight to the end" - despite hopes by U.S. and Israeli officials that they could "decapitate" the government and achieve collapse."

"The cable further said that if Iranians were to stage more protests against their government, as they did in demonstrations earlier this year, "the people will get slaughtered," Israeli officials said. According to UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Mai Sato, around 5,000 people were killed in the government crackdown on protests as of January."

"Israeli officials are reportedly urging the U.S. to join them in their public urging of Iranians to stage an uprising against their government, even as the Israeli government internally assesses that protesters would be "slaughtered" if they did so, demonstrating Israel's blasé attitude toward Iranian lives amid its bombardments of the country."

Israeli officials communicated to U.S. diplomats via State Department cable that Iran's government is resilient and will "fight to the end," contradicting earlier hopes of achieving governmental collapse. Despite this assessment, Israeli officials are urging the U.S. to publicly encourage Iranians to stage uprisings against their government. Internal Israeli communications acknowledge that if such protests occurred, "the people will get slaughtered," referencing previous government crackdowns that killed approximately 5,000 people earlier in the year. This reveals a disconnect between Israeli public rhetoric encouraging Iranian rebellion and private acknowledgment of the severe consequences protesters would face.

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