TEL AVIV, Israel — With President Donald Trump threatening catastrophic attacks if Iran does not agree to a ceasefire, Israel is signaling it wants a longer runway to press its campaign against Tehran and further weaken the regime.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the U.S. has largely achieved its objectives in the conflict with Iran and that it is now up to Tehran to strike a deal to end the war or “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Many European countries are urging restraint following Trump’s increasingly escalatory threats.

Israeli leaders and officials are projecting a different message: The operation is not over, they say, and this is a pivotal moment to ramp up pressure on Tehran.

Israel thinks it is premature for a ceasefire and hopes that the military campaign can go on for at least another month, according to two former senior Israeli officials with ties to the military who were granted anonymity to speak openly about strategy. The former officials said more time would help advance Israel’s longer-term objective of weakening the Iranian regime enough to set the stage for its eventual collapse, even if that outcome remains months or years away.

One of the former officials said Israel assesses that “one or two more months” of a military campaign could hasten the regime’s demise.

“Nobody can say for sure, but what we see today is that they are already on the verge of collapse,” the person said.

That adds more specificity to the public messaging coming from the Israeli government.

“This is no longer the same Iran, nor is it the same Israel. We are changing the balance of power fundamentally,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement released Tuesday afternoon.

Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, likewise suggested the campaign is entering a decisive phase rather than a moment to wind down.

“We are approaching a strategic junction in the joint operation against Iran,” he said Tuesday during a meeting with Israel’s military commanders. “Thus far, we have achieved significant accomplishments. We will continue to act with determination and deepen the degradation of the regime.”

The second former official argued that “in many ways this regime is already dead,” but that “it will take time” for any permanent change.

Israel’s prime minister’s office declined to comment, and the IDF did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump has insisted that Iran’s regime has already shifted. “We have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail,” he wrote on Truth Social along with his threat to end Iranian civilization.

Israel has already stepped up its attacks against Iranian infrastructure ahead of Trump’s deadline. On Tuesday the Israeli military struck bridges and railway infrastructure, which the Israel Defense Forces said Iran uses to transport weapons and military equipment. On Monday the Israeli military attacked two petrochemical plants where Israel said Iran developed materials for explosives.

The U.S. also struck dozens of military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island overnight — including bunkers, radars and ammunition storage sites — while avoiding oil infrastructure.

“We’re not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don’t make a proposal,” Vance said in Hungary on Tuesday.

The Pentagon is also expanding its list of Iranian energy sites eligible for strikes, including sites used by both civilians and the military, as Israel and the U.S. broaden their target lists and U.S. ground troops surge into the region.