Install and upgrade the IstioOperator using GitOps?

Is there a way to upgrade the (version of the) actual IstioOperator using GitOps, as in some kind of rendered yaml?

We are using the operator to manage Istio, but upgrading the version of Istio from 1.6.x to 1.7.x failed with the admissions controller balking, I’m assuming a version mismatch between the operator version and the “tag” attribute.

Nevermind, found my own solution, there is a helm chart for installing JUST the operator, inside the istio-1.7.3.tar.gz.

Sorry to bother!