What Is Israel's Endgame in Iran War? IDF's Ben Cohen Explains 'Good vs Evil' Battle (WATCH)

In an exclusive interview with Asianet Newsable English, IDF's Ben Cohen details unprecedented US-Israel military coordination against Iran, the proxy threat from Hezbollah and Hamas, and why the war will continue.

The ongoing Middle East conflict involving Israel, Iran and the United States has entered a critical phase, with rising tensions across the region and escalating military strikes. In an exclusive interview with Asianet Newsable English, Somya Jaiswal spoke to Ben Cohen, Deputy to the International Spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), about the unprecedented military cooperation between Washington and Tel Aviv, the role of Iran-backed proxies, and the evolving battlefield dynamics.

Cohen described the conflict as a decisive effort to dismantle what Israel calls an existential threat posed by Iran and its regional network.

‘Unprecedented coordination’ between US and Israel

Speaking about the scale of cooperation between the two militaries, Cohen said the current campaign marks a new level of operational integration.

“The joint cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Army in general is one of the most unprecedented operations that we've seen," the IDF official said.

He explained that while the two countries have coordinated in previous operations, the present campaign involves deeper strategic alignment.

“Here it's not only cooperation, it's joint coordination. We're working hand-in-hand in order to achieve our goal," Cohen added.

According to Cohen, the goal is to eliminate what Israel sees as a direct security threat from Tehran.

“Our goal is that the Iranian terrorist regime that poses an existential threat to the state of Israel and a threat to the entire region… doesn't have the military capabilities to pose the same threat," he noted.

“We're doing that hand-in-hand very, very effectively. We appreciate our American partners because they're doing an impeccable job,” Cohen added.

Intelligence sharing a ‘force multiplier’

Cohen emphasised that close intelligence and operational coordination between the two militaries has significantly strengthened their ability to target Iranian military infrastructure.

“We work hand-in-hand behind the scenes, not just on the intelligence front. Our air forces work in coordination, our operations work in coordination, and we make sure that everything that we do is in sync. That goes for the intelligence and it goes for everything else,” the IDF official stated.

“Obviously, it's a force multiplier,” Cohen declared.

He added that joint planning allows the two countries to strike different elements of Iran’s military simultaneously.

“When you have, as the Americans put it, the two strongest air forces in the world working hand-in-hand to achieve a goal and they can do that in sync, targeting different parts of the Iranian military array, and they have a very wide military array, it makes, naturally, the things more effective."

Iran’s proxy network fuelling the conflict

Cohen accused Tehran of building a regional proxy system aimed at attacking Israel through allied militant groups. He cited groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

“The Iranian terrorist regime has built for years a plan to destroy Israel. They have a concrete plan behind the scenes to destroy Israel, and that plan includes a lot of different military capabilities. It's their ballistic missiles, it's their nuclear programme that they're building, and it's also their proxy network," he said.

“The same proxy network that they've funded, supported militarily for years, the same proxy network that includes Hamas that killed and murdered Israeli civilians on October 7th, that includes the Houthis, that includes a lot of different forces, and between them, Hezbollah,” Cohen added.

He pointed to recent rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon as an example of these groups acting in support of Iran.

“When Hezbollah makes a decision, an organisation that claims internally in Lebanon to be for the protection of Lebanese people, decides in response to an operation that's, you know, a US and Israel operation in Iran to fire missiles, rockets, UAVs at Israeli civilians, they're proving once again that they serve that same Iranian interest."

According to Cohen, Israel cannot allow northern communities to remain under constant threat.

“We can't allow for a situation where tens of thousands of civilians have to evacuate from their homes because Hezbollah is firing at civilians intentionally.”

Iran a ‘regional threat’, says IDF spokesperson

Addressing the widening conflict across the Middle East, Cohen said Iran’s recent attacks demonstrate that the threat extends beyond Israel.

“Iran's attacks over the last week and a half, I think, prove something that we've been saying for a year and maybe some doubted, and that's that the Iranian terrorist regime really is a regional threat."

He noted that attacks have targeted multiple countries in the region.

“It's not that they're targeting American bases and IDF assets, they're targeting civilians. They're targeting civilians in Israel, and they're targeting civilians in Gulf countries and in Europe. Because that's what they do, they want to destabilise the region. They're a terrorist regime with terrorist ideology. It's not anything other than a strategy to target civilians and to terrorise people," Cohen said.

“However that impacts the region, that's for the region to decide. I'm an IDF spokesperson, I speak for IDF activity, but I think it's important to note that a regional threat isn't just a message that we're sending out into the world. It's a concrete threat, and we've seen it over the last week and a half,” Cohen declared.

‘Operation will continue as long as needed’

When asked how long the conflict could last, Cohen said Israel intends to continue its operations until Iran’s military capabilities are permanently weakened.

“We started this operation with what we call a golden opportunity… a window in time in which you eliminate 40 senior commanders, including the supreme leader," the IDF spokesperson said.

Cohen added that the campaign first focused on destroying Iran’s air defence systems and missile capabilities.

“Those next 100 hours that followed that opening strike are a very intense barrage where we're trying to eliminate their aerial defence capabilities to create aerial superiority and to deteriorate their ballistic missile capability."

Israel has now moved into the next phase of the operation, he added.

“We're deepening the deterioration of the terrorist regime and its military capabilities. We're starting to see fractures in their ability to handle their military capabilities and their ability to run that show of that existential threat that we've been talking about.

He stressed that Israel will continue until the threat is eliminated.

“We're going to keep operating for as long as it takes until we know that the loaded gun pointed to our head isn't there anymore."

“This isn't a means of taking a ticking time bomb and diffusing it at the last second and waiting till the next time that it goes off. We're talking about removing the bomb so it's not there anymore. We can't allow for this threat to exist. Not now and not for another operation that we'll have to run in a year or in two years.”

“We don't want this threat to exist anymore. So as long as that takes, that's as long as we'll go,” Cohen declared.

Silence on intelligence role

When asked about reports that the elimination of Iran’s supreme leader involved coordination between the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad, Cohen declined to comment on intelligence operations.

“Naturally with intelligence, we don't speak to any intelligence that happens behind the scenes. We have to make sure that our surprises are ready along the line and we have a lot of them,” he said.

However, he acknowledged the role of intelligence in enabling complex operations.

“It's not simple to be able to do the, frankly I have to say, very impressive things that Israeli and American intelligence have been able to provide over the course of this operation. And we're going to keep those secrets in-house.”

‘A story of good versus evil’

Asked about global support for Israel in the event of a World War 3, Cohen framed the war as a moral battle.

“I think it's very clear that we have here a story of good versus evil.”

He accused Iran of supporting militant attacks and destabilising the region.

“When we're talking about the Iranian terrorist regime, the tactics, the firing at civilians, the supporting of Hamas that murdered and raped Israeli civilians on the 7th of October, the creation of a proxy network that's ultimate goal is to destroy another sovereign state, I think tells the story."

“If that didn't tell the story enough, then what's happened over the last week and a half, the Iranian terrorist regime firing all over the region, at Europe and at the Gulf states, I think proves where this terrorist regime interests are at, you know, externally and also internally, shutting off the internet for their own people, killing tens of thousands within their own country.”

“I think that's the story, a story of good versus evil,” Cohen said firmly.

He also addressed viewers in India directly.

“So I would hope that now and at any point in the future, we understand, the world understands, the people in India understand, and I know they do, that, you know, we're fighting a war of good versus evil. And at the end of the day, we're looking to protect civilian lives while the other side is looking to hurt them,” he concluded.

Escalating tensions across the Middle East

The interview comes as the conflict continues to widen across the region. Recent developments include drones falling near Dubai airport that injured four people, missile interceptions by Saudi Arabia, explosions reported in Doha, and attacks on ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have continued in Beirut targeting positions linked to Hezbollah, while Iran has launched new missile barrages toward Israel.

With tensions spreading across multiple countries and global energy markets on edge, the conflict now risks drawing in more regional players, raising fears of a broader Middle East war.