To add two quotes from Bennett in the last two paragraphs

JERUSALEM, June 23 (Reuters) - A former Israeli prime minister admitted on Tuesday that Israel smuggled Starlink internet receivers into Iran to help anti-government protesters, but said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not continue the scheme.

Naftali Bennett, who served as prime minister from 2021 to 2022, told attendees at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JNS) International Policy Summit in Jerusalem that he had initiated "the purchase and smuggling of tens of thousands of Starlink service receivers into Iran, which would have allowed the continuation of internet and social networking services."

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, provides satellite internet service. Iran has previously accused Israel and the United States of smuggling these devices to undermine its security. Starlink does not have a license to operate in Iran, but Musk has previously stated that the service is operational there.

Bennett stated that the purpose of the devices was to enable protesters to coordinate among themselves and overthrow the Iranian regime.

He added, "Unfortunately, the current incompetent Israeli government stopped doing that... and when the protests broke out, that infrastructure was not ready."

Netanyahu's office did not respond to questions regarding Bennett's comments, and SpaceX could not be reached for comment outside of business hours in the United States.

Iranian authorities cut off internet service to the people during periods of unrest, including the nationwide protests in January that resulted in deaths and throughout the period of the US-Israeli war on the country.

Reuters previously reported that some Iranians resorted to the Starlink service during the internet outage.

Bennett, the leader of a right-wing party and one of several politicians opposing Netanyahu and vying to succeed him in elections scheduled for October, said that Israel and other Middle Eastern countries should "join forces to overthrow the Iranian regime and ultimately bring it down."

He added, amid applause from the audience, "It is a corrupt, antiquated, detached, and incompetent system, and it will fall just as the Soviet Union fell."