US, Israel planned to install Ahmadinejad in Iran and helped him escape country

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bka4o351fx

The New York Times reported overnight Tuesday that the United States and Israel had an unexpected candidate for that “someone from within” — perhaps the last person anyone would have imagined as suitable, or willing: former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long considered one of Israel’s bitterest enemies.

According to officials in Washington, the extraordinary plan was developed by Israel and later joined by U.S. intelligence officials. But senior American officials said it quickly went awry. Officials briefed on the matter and a person close to Ahmadinejad told the paper that the Israeli strike on the first day of the war at Ahmadinejad’s home in Tehran was meant to free him from the house arrest he was under. But after he nearly was killed in the strike, and was wounded, he changed his mind and decided, at least at that point, not to take part in the coup operation.

The American and Israeli choice of Ahmadinejad to replace Iran’s leadership was unusual, to say the least. During his presidency from 2005 to 2013, he repeatedly threatened to “wipe Israel and Zionism” off the map. He was known as a Holocaust denier and did not hesitate to use blatant antisemitic rhetoric.