Vahid Beheshti with MKs Sova and Tal, at the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus. Photo: Michael Katz

At a meeting of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, discussing the plans for a post-Hamas Gaza on Tuesday, an Iranian opposition leader told Israeli lawmakers that Israel should not hesitate to “attack the heads of the Iranian leadership” in Tehran itself.

The meeting of the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus — which was attended by Vahid Beheshti and Israeli ministers, Knesset members, security officials, and diplomatic leaders — marked the first time an Iranian opposition figure has addressed Israel’s parliament.

Beheshti, who grew up in Iran but now resides in London, is known for his 72-day hunger strike calling for the UK government to categorize Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terror organization. At Tuesday’s meeting, which was jointly hosted with the Israeli Victory Project, Beheshti urged Israel to confront the Iranian government directly.

“Soon you will have to deal with the elephant in the room, which is the Iranian government, and you should not be afraid of attacking Iranian bases in Iran. Do not be afraid to attack the heads of the Iranian leadership in Iran. This is the only language they understand,” he said.

Beheshti highlighted the support of “80 million Iranians who are thirsty for freedom and democracy” who have failed to overthrow the Islamist regime and its “barbaric violence.”

“If you support the Iranian people, you will see how they will lower the head of the octopus and we will all experience peace,” he said.

Beheshti claimed that the Iranian regime, which was the “weakest it’s been in 44 years,” miscalculated Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 — of which he said it was “aware in advance” — expecting to achieve a “total” ceasefire within two months. Nearly three months have passed since the war broke out with the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel.

Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with funds, arms, and training.

Beheshti’s comments came a day before a huge explosion killed more than 100 people at a ceremony in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman commemorating top IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone in 2020.

Beheshti denied claims by Iran’s state-run media that Israel was behind the attack.

“Those who are aware of the nature of the Iranian regime, know full well that today’s attack was an inside job, as Israel’s operations are always targeted,” he said on X/Twitter, citing various other attacks, including the downing of the Ukrainian plane, that he said proved Iran was willing to “sacrifice civilian lives for its own sinister goals.”

The people of Iran will not be fooled by the orchestrated attacks of the regime aimed at influencing public opinion.

Videos are being shared by Iran's state media showing the victims of a "terrorist attack" at the burial site of Qassem Soleimani.

This is yet another attempt… pic.twitter.com/hw6Xooc71Y

— Vahid Beheshti وحید بهشتی (@Vahid_Beheshti) January 3, 2024

Co-Chairman of Tuesday’s caucus meeting MK Ohad Tal, a member of the Religious Zionist Party, emphasized the need for a strategic victory over Hamas, and proposed permanent Israeli control over the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas taught us that the time has come for a real and strategic victory,” he told The Algemeiner. “The goal of the war should be that the State of Israel controls the entire Gaza Strip, not temporarily, but permanently. Gaza is part of the State of Israel and should once again be in Israel’s hands.”

“This way our enemies will be fully aware that it is not worth their while to enter into a war with Israel, and it will restore deterrence and [Israel’s] political, military, and economic power,” he added.

Israel withdrew all Israeli soldiers and civilians from Gaza in 2005. Hamas has fully ruled the Palestinian enclave, from which it launched its Oct. 7 massacre, since 2007.

Zvika Hauser, former head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, presented a three-pronged plan for victory, including the expulsion of remaining Hamas members from Gaza, demilitarization of the area, and the creation of a buffer zone.

Yisrael Weiser — the father of Staff Sergeant Roey Weiser, who was killed on Oct. 7 — attended the meeting with his wife, Naomi. “This war must continue until the IDF’s complete victory over all the enemies that surround us. Anything less than that will not achieve the goal for which my son was killed. This must also be the last war. We must learn from our failures to be a deterrent for the future,” the grieving father said.

Israeli Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel outlined her plan for the voluntary resettlement of Gaza Strip residents, emphasizing the need for international support and an aid package for refugees. “The mobilization of the international community is required to create a pool of countries that will take in refugees while receiving an aid package for them,” Minister Gamliel stated.

Israeli media on Wednesday reported that officials are conducting clandestine talks with several countries to absorb Palestinians from Gaza on a humanitarian basis. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also advocated the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, and called on the international community to find solutions.

“Seventy percent of the Israeli public today supports a humanitarian solution of encouraging the voluntary immigration of Gazan Arabs and their absorption in other countries,” he said.

“They understand that a small country like ours cannot afford a reality where four minutes away from our towns and cities there is a hotbed of hatred and terrorism where two million people wake up every morning with an aspiration for the destruction of the State of Israel and with a desire to slaughter and rape and murder Jews wherever they are,” he added.

The US State Department on Tuesday slammed Smotrich over the plan, calling his rhetoric “inflammatory and irresponsible.”

UN special rapporteur Balakrishnan Rajagopal on Wednesday said that the “forcible transfer” constituted an “act of genocide.”