Israel will see “many more achievements” against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday morning, speaking after the Israel Defense Forces attacked dozens of targets across the Islamic Republic.
“We are after a very successful opening strike,” Netanyahu said in a recorded statement from Jerusalem, flanked by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and others senior officials.
“We struck the senior command, we struck senior scientists advancing the development of nuclear weapons, we struck nuclear installations—we are racking up achievements,” the prime minister noted.
Netanyahu called on all citizens of the Jewish state to strictly follow the IDF Home Front Command guidelines, saying, “There are no ‘free’ wars.
“It’s very likely you will be required to stay in protected spaces for an extended period—much longer than we are used to,” he forewarned.
Netanyahu in his statement urged the Israeli public to not only stock up on supplies for the coming war, but “most importantly on patience, faith in the justice of our cause and confidence in our victory.”
Noting the name given to the operation, “Rising Lion,” the premier cited the biblical book of Numbers (23:24): “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion.”
אילוסטרציה תלת-מימדית של אתר העשרת האורניום במרחב נטנז pic.twitter.com/2BVmyeINLa
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 13, 2025
The Prime Minister’s Office in a separate statement announced that Netanyahu on Friday placed a note between the stones of the Western Wall with the verse.
“With God’s help, we are going to achieve a lot of accomplishments thanks to you and thanks to our brave soldiers,” the prime minister concluded his video statement on Friday morning.
Dozens of Israeli Air Force jets attacked dozens of targets, including military and nuclear sites, in a “preemptive, precise, combined offensive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program early on Friday.
The IDF said the attack was based on “high-quality intelligence” and “in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.”
Netanyahu earlier on Friday said that the operation would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” vowing to stop “the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”
Air-raid sirens were heard throughout Israel around 3 a.m., warning of an immediate emergency situation on the home front. The Israeli military subsequently announced a ban on all “educational activities, gatherings and workplaces, except for essential sectors.”
