Gulf states may be loudly condemning Israeli actions in the war against Iran, but quietly they are offering support. An Israeli official familiar with the discussions said that the Gulf states have told Israel and the United States the war must end with nothing less than regime change, or else Iran will remain a threat to the region.

“The Gulf states are praying that we finish the job, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others,” the official said. “For them, Iran has been a nightmare that has terrorized them for decades, and finally someone has risen to put an end to it. In closed conversations, the messages we receive are, ‘Go all the way and may God help you.’”

The countries in the Persian Gulf have also requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Iran’s attacks against them following strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. At the session, the Arab states are expected to raise the problem of the Strait of Hormuz and to seek a diplomatic resolution to Iran’s chokehold on the waterway. About a fifth of the world’s oil is exported through Hormuz, and the disruption has caused oil prices to spike and stock markets to drop.

Meanwhile, Gulf countries are absorbing Iranian attacks without retaliating, out of fear that the regime will emerge from this war unscathed and exact retribution. Nevertheless, they support the war effort behind the scenes.

“Despite the recent Iranian strikes, the Iranians are still observing certain rules of the game,” the official said. “Another reason, and perhaps the most important, is that they believe Iran will survive the war and are worried about the day after.”

According to Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, the Gulf states have accepted Israeli assistance in dealing with the attacks, however. “There are those who are benefiting from our expertise in those areas right now,” he said.