Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an address to the nation this evening (Tuesday) following the end of Operation Rising Lion.
"In the 12 days of Operation Rising Lion, we achieved a historic victory. This victory will stand for generations. We removed two immediate existential threats - the threat of destruction by nuclear bombs and the threat of destruction by 20,000 ballistic missiles. If we had not acted now, the State of Israel would soon be facing the danger of destruction," Netanyahu declared.
He noted that "this did not happen because at the decisive moment we stood up like a lion and our roar shook Tehran and echoed throughout the world."
"Rising Lion's opening blow will be recorded in the annals of Israel's wars and will be learned by all the armies of the world. In one stroke - one blow - we eliminated Iran's senior command, including three chiefs of staff and other senior figures," Netanyahu emphasized.
He noted that the US had struck another fatal blow to the Iranian nuclear program. "At Trump's direction, the US military destroyed the Fordow facility. We attacked dozens of other facilities, including laboratories and centrifuge manufacturing plants. We completed the job, and we damaged the entire archive, which contained all of Iran's knowledge to create an atomic bomb. All the careful actions our soldiers took destroyed Iran's nuclear project, and if anyone tries to revive it, we will act with the same determination and strength to thwart any such attempt."
"I thank my friends President Trump and the US on your behalf for their role in defending Israel and eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat. The US joining not only on the defensive side - it is a historic event, it has never happened before. Israel has never had a great friend like Trump in the White House, and I thank him very much for the joint work," Netanyahu said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that "Iran's intention to threaten Israel with tens of thousands of ballistic missiles has been removed. We destroyed headquarters, attacked Revolutionary Guard bases, Basij bases, and attacked symbols of power. Early this morning - a few hours before the ceasefire, we dealt the ayatollahs' regime the hardest blow - the hardest blow in its history. We eliminated hundreds of regime operatives in the most crushing attack Tehran has seen in the last 50 years."
"We are not smug or complacent - quite the opposite. We must defeat Hamas and release all the hostages. To the families of the hostages, I say that during the war, we did not stop for a moment our efforts to bring all our hostages home, and we will not relent from this sacred mission until it is completed," he concluded.