Israel had “pulled off some surprises” during its ongoing campaign against Iran that make September 2024’s so-called “Operation Beeper” against Hezbollah in Lebanon appear “simple,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said on Monday.
Leiter made the remarks in an interview with cable channel MeritTV, founded by Phil McGraw (longtime host of CBS‘s “Dr. Phil”) in November 2023.
“We’ve pulled off a number of surprises. When the dust settles, you’re going to see some surprises on Thursday night, Friday that will make the beeper operation seem almost simple,” Leiter told MeritTV’s political director Lyndsay Keith.
Leiter later clarified that he was speaking of surprises “at the beginning of the operation” last Thursday and Friday, not of future operations.
NEW: Israeli Ambassador tells @LyndsayKeith to expect a ‘surprise’ later this week in its attacks on Iran that will make the Mossad’s Hezbollah pager operation look ‘simple.’ pic.twitter.com/AWDPY6lioQ
— Merit Street (@MeritStreet) June 16, 2025
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s confirmation on Monday that Iran had reached out about restarting talks regarding its nuclear program, Leiter was dismissive.
“The problem is that the Iranians have been saying, ‘Let’s negotiate’ for 15 years. At the same time, they’re racing toward a nuclear bomb,” he said.
He noted that it was only natural Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should signal a readiness to negotiate as he sees the destruction of his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) leadership and the elimination of his nuclear scientists.
“He must be saying to himself, ‘Is this really worth it? Should I continue down this path?’ So now, if he’s agreeing to some degree of negotiations, we can understand why,” said Leiter.
Referring to Trump’s social media post on Sunday that “we can easily get a deal done” to end the war, MeritTV‘s Keith asked if the president was pressuring Israel to bring “Operation Rising Lion” to a close.
“President Trump has completely been aligned with our prime minister,” Leiter said. “From the moment he entered the White House, he said very clearly, ‘Iran could not have a path to a nuclear bomb.’”
Leiter said one of the pleasures of working with the Trump administration is that the president “means what he says.”
“We have had no better friend and there’s no pressure. The president believes, together with our prime minister, that Iran is a menace. They have spread chaos in the Middle East and around the world,” said Leiter.
Iran had attempted twice to assassinate Trump and once to kill former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, the Israeli ambassador pointed out. “These are bad actors. These are malevolent actors,” he said of Iran’s leadership.
On Monday, Trump posted to Truth Social that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.”
Leiter said that he couldn’t speak directly to what Trump meant, (The president later explained, “I just want people to be safe.”), but that Israel had only requested defensive assistance, for which he thanked the American people.
The U.S. THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Systems have “saved countless lives” in Israel amid Iran’s ongoing ballistic missile assaults, he said. (The American systems were added to Israel’s already robust, multi-tiered missile shield.)
“We are committed to completely demolishing the nuclear weapons infrastructure in Iran, that includes all the sites, and we’ll do whatever we have to do to ensure that that’s the end game. Allies, the United States, will make a decision as to whether or not they’re coming in and joining us. That’s an American decision, but our ask is defensive,” he said.
‘We’re progressing ahead of schedule.’ Israel’s Ambassador (@yechielleiter) tells @LyndsayMKeith that the ultimate goal is to ‘demolish all nuclear weapon facilities in Iran.’ On Merit TV. pic.twitter.com/ILvmmRIt72
— Merit Street (@MeritStreet) June 17, 2025
