‘A lion lifts himself up’: What Netanyahu wrote in note at Jerusalem’s Western Wall before striking Iran

This handout picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placing a note in the West Wall in Jerusalem, one day before Israel launched strikes on Iran.

A day before Israel carried out a dramatic series of strikes on Iranian nuclear and missile targets, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Western Wall, placing a note bearing a biblical verse: "A people that rises up as a lioness, and as a lion lifts himself up."

The symbolic gesture came just hours ahead of what Netanyahu later described as a “very successful opening strike” under a new military campaign - Operation Rising Lion.

The Israeli strikes, announced early Friday morning, marked the beginning of a large-scale operation targeting key elements of Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment sites, weapons development facilities, its military brass and nuclear scientists. “We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile program,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Framing the military offensive as a necessary preemptive move, Netanyahu declared that Israel was acting to dismantle an imminent threat to its survival. "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," he said. "The mission will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."

The Israeli leader accused Iran of covertly pushing ahead with a nuclear weapons program despite international oversight, citing uranium stockpiles enriched to levels sufficient for multiple bombs. “In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs. Nine,” he said. “Iran could develop a nuclear weapon within months.”

Netanyahu drew comparisons to World War II and the Holocaust to underscore the threat. "Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime."

Detailing the scope of the strikes, he said: “We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme. We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponization programme. We targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile programme.”

He also warned of Iran’s rapidly expanding ballistic capabilities. “Iran is gearing up to produce 10,000 of those ballistic missiles within three years. Now just imagine, imagine 10,000 tonnes of TNT landing on a country the size of New Jersey. This is an intolerable threat. It must be stopped.”

Netanyahu accused Tehran of using its regional proxies to surround and destabilize Israel, referencing recent attacks and conflicts with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. “But the people of Israel, the soldiers of Israel rose like lions to defend our country. We crushed Hamas. We devastated Hezbollah. We hit Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen.”

He suggested Israel’s actions had even shaped regional developments. “Our actions against Iran's proxy Hezbollah led to the establishment of a new government in Lebanon and the collapse of Assad's murderous regime in Syria.”

In a message directed to the Iranian population, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel’s quarrel is with the ruling regime, not the people. “Our fight is not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe that the day of your liberation is near.”

Netanyahu also warned that the Iranian threat extended beyond the Middle East. “The increasing range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe and eventually to America.”

He expressed gratitude to former U.S. President Donald Trump for his firm stance on Iran. “I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons programme.”

Netanyahu reflected on the dangers of delayed action, invoking the failures of pre-WWII leaders. “They adopted a policy of appeasement. They closed their eyes and ears to all the warning signs... That failure to act resulted in World War II.”

“After that war, the Jewish people and the Jewish state vowed, never again. Well, never again is now.”

Justifying the strikes as a matter of historical and moral responsibility, Netanyahu concluded: “When enemies vow to destroy you, believe them. When enemies build weapons of mass death, stop them. As the Bible teaches us, when someone comes to kill you, rise and act first.”

He ended with a message of unity and defiance: “Be strong and courageous. Today, our strong and courageous soldiers and people stand together to defend ourselves against those who seek our destruction. And by defending ourselves, we defend many others and we roll back a murderous tyranny.”

“Generations from now, history will record that our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future. May God bless Israel. May God bless the forces of civilisation everywhere.”