Following the significant success of Operation Rising Lion, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir stated in closed discussions that “Iran is no longer a nuclear threshold state,” Channel 12 News reported Friday evening.
According to the report, Israeli defense officials assess that, while some components of Iran’s nuclear program remain intact, the extensive damage inflicted on its infrastructure—including scientists, facilities, and reactors—has severely set back its nuclear ambitions. The damage, they believe, may take years to repair.
Earlier on Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he had instructed the IDF to prepare an enforcement plan targeting both Iran’s nuclear program and its missile production capabilities.
Katz said the plan would include measures to maintain Israel’s air superiority, prevent further progress in Iran’s nuclear and missile development, and deliver direct responses to Iranian-backed terrorist activity against Israel.
“The goal,” Katz explained, “is to force the Iranian regime into a dilemma: whether it is worth investing years and billions of dollars into rebuilding these capabilities, knowing that Israel will strike again.”
The defense minister added a pointed warning, “We will act consistently to thwart threats of this kind. I suggest that the head of the toothless snake in Tehran understand and beware— Operation Rising Lion was just a preview of Israel’s new policy. After October 7, immunity is over.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)