Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his nation on Tuesday evening, declaring Operation Rising Lion — the war against Iran — an “historic victory.”
In his first public address since the end of what President Donald Trump called the “12 Day War,” and hours after a ceasefire took effect, Netanyahu thanked Trump and the United States, but emphasized the courage of the Israeli military and the Israeli people.
Dear citizens of Israel,
In the 12 days of Operation Rising Lion, we achieved a historic victory, which will stand for generations.
We removed two existential threats: The threat of annihilation by nuclear weapons and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles. Had we not acted now, the State of Israel would have soon faced the danger of annihilation.
But this did not happen because at the decisive moment, we rose up and stood like lions, and our roar shook Tehran and echoed around the world.
In the scriptures, it is said: ‘By stratagems shall you make war.’
The surprise opening blow of Rising Lion will go down in the annals of Israel’s wars and will be studied by every military in the world. In one strike, in one blow, we eliminated