Binyamin Netanyahu

Operation Rising Lion:
Israel's PM Announces Targeted Preemptive Airstrikes in Iran

delivered 13 June 2025

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

For decades, the "Tyrants of Tehran" have brazenly, openly, called for Israel's destruction. They've backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons. In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs -- nine. In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months -- less than a year. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.

Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish State refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime.

Now, as Prime Minister, I've made it clear time and again: Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal. Tonight, Israel backs those words with action.

We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponization program.
We targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz.
We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working on the uranium bomb.
We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile program.

Last year, Iran fired 300 ballistic missiles at Israel. Each of these missiles carries a ton of explosives and threatens the lives of hundreds of people. Soon, those missiles could carry a nuclear payload, threatening the lives, not of hundreds, but of millions.

Iran is gearing up to produce 10,000s of those ballistic missiles within three years. Now, just imagine, imagine 10,000 tons of TNT landing on a country the size of New Jersey. This is an intolerable threat. It too must be stopped.

Iran is now working on what it calls the "new plan" to destroy Israel. You see, the old plan failed. Iran and its proxies tried to encircle Israel with a "ring of fire," and to attack us with the horrible attack of October 7th. But the people of Israel, the soldiers of Israel, rose like lions to defend our country. We crushed Hamas. We devastated Hezbollah. We hit Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen. And when Iran directly attacked us twice last year, we struck back inside Iran itself.

Yet, in defending ourselves, we also defend others. We defend our Arab neighbors. They too have suffered from Iran’s campaign of chaos and carnage. Our actions against Iran's proxy Hezbollah led to the establishment of a new government in Lebanon and the collapse of Assad's murderous regime in Syria. The peoples of those two countries now have a chance for a different future, a better future.

So, too, do the brave people of Iran. And I have a message for them: Our fight is not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe that the day of your liberation is near; and when that happens, the great friendship between our two ancient peoples will flourish once again.

I want to assure the civilized world: We will not let the world’s most dangerous regime get the world’s most dangerous weapons. And Iran plans to give those weapons -- nuclear weapons! -- to its terrorist proxies. That would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real. The increasing range of Iran’s ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe and, eventually, to America.

Remember, Iran calls Israel the "Small Satan;" it calls America the "Great Satan." And this is why, for decades, it's led millions in the chants of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." Today, Israel is responding to those genocidal calls with action -- and with a call of our own: Long live Israel and long live America!

Our action will help make the world a much safer place. I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran’s nuclear weapons program. He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program. Today, it is clear that Iran is just buying for time. It refuses to agree to this basic requirement of peaceful nations. That is why we have no choice but to act -- and act now.

The hardest decision any leader has to make is to thwart a danger before it is fully materialized. Nearly a century ago, facing the Nazis, a generation of leaders failed to act in time. They were paralyzed by the horrors of World War I. They were determined to avoid war at all costs; and they got the worst war ever. They adopted a policy of appeasement. They closed their eyes and ears to all the warning signs. That failure to act resulted in World War II, the deadliest war in history. It claimed the lives of 60 million, including six million Jews -- a third of my people.

After that war, the Jewish people and the Jewish State vowed, "Never again." Well, never again is now.

Today, Israel has shown that we have learned the lessons of history. When enemies vow to destroy you, believe them. When enemies build weapons of mass death, stop them. As the Bible teaches us: When someone comes to kill you, rise and act [kill] first.¹ This is exactly what Israel has done today. We have risen like lions to defend ourselves.

Over 3,000 years ago, Moses gave the People of Israel a message that has steeled their resolve ever since: "Be strong and courageous," he said. Today, our strong and courageous soldiers and people stand together to defend ourselves against those who seek our destruction. And by defending ourselves, we defend many others, and we roll back a murderous tyranny. Generations from now, history will record that our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future.

May God bless Israel.

May God bless the forces of civilization everywhere.

Thank you.

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