Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses the strike on Iran’s nuclear targets.
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00:00Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll
00:07back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
00:12This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.
00:17For decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction.
00:24They've backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons.
00:30In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for 9 atom bombs.
00:38In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before – steps to weaponize
00:44this enriched uranium.
00:46And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.
00:51It could be a year, it could be within a few months, less than a year.
00:55This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.
01:00Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi
01:06regime.
01:07Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian
01:14regime.
01:15Now, as Prime Minister, I've made it clear time and again, Israel will never allow those
01:21who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal.
01:26Tonight, Israel backs those words with action.
01:30We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
01:34We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponization program.
01:38We targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz.
01:41We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.
01:46We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile program.
01:50Last year, Iran fired 300 ballistic missiles at Israel.
01:55Each of these missiles carries a ton of explosives and threatens the lives of hundreds of people.
02:02Soon, those missiles could carry a nuclear payload, threatening the lives, not of hundreds, but of millions.
02:10Iran is gearing up to produce 10,000 of those ballistic missiles within three years.
02:16Now just imagine, imagine 10,000 tons of TNT landing on a country the size of New Jersey.
02:25This is an intolerable threat.
02:27It too must be stopped.
02:30Iran is now working on what it calls the new plan to destroy Israel.
02:34You see, the old plan failed.
02:37Iran and its proxies tried to encircle Israel with a ring of fire and to attack us with the
02:43horrible attack of October 7th.
02:45But the people of Israel, the soldiers of Israel, rose like lions to defend our country.
02:51We crushed Hamas.
02:52We devastated Hezbollah.
02:54We hit Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen.
02:57And when Iran directly attacked us twice last year, we struck back inside Iran itself.
03:03Yet in defending ourselves, we also defend others.
03:07We defend our Arab neighbors.
03:09They too have suffered from Iran's campaign of chaos and carnage.
03:13Our actions against Iran's proxy Hezbollah led to the establishment of a new government
03:18in Lebanon and the collapse of Assad's murderous regime in Syria.
03:23The peoples of those two countries now have a chance for a different future, a better future.
03:29So too do the brave people of Iran.
03:32And I have a message for them.
03:34Our fight is not with you.
03:36Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years.
03:42I believe that the day of your liberation is near, and when that happens, the great friendship
03:48between our two ancient peoples will flourish once again.
03:53I want to assure the civilized world.
03:55We will not let the world's most dangerous regime get the world's most dangerous weapons.
04:01When Iran plans to give those weapons, nuclear weapons, to its terrorist proxies, that would
04:07make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real.
04:11The increasing range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities
04:16of Europe and eventually to America.
04:20Remember, Iran calls Israel the small Satan.
04:24It calls America the great Satan.
04:27And this is why for decades it's led millions in the chants of death to Israel and death
04:32to America.
04:34Today, Israel is responding to those genocidal calls with action and with a call of our own.
04:42Long live Israel and long live America.
04:46Our action will help make the world a much safer place.
04:50I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons program.
04:56He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program.
05:02Today, it is clear that Iran is just buying for time.
05:06It refuses to agree to this basic requirement of peaceful nations.
05:12That is why we have no choice but to act.
05:15And act now.
05:16The hardest decision any leader has to make is to thwart a danger before it is fully materialized.
05:25Nearly a century ago, facing the Nazis, a generation of leaders failed to act in time.
05:32They were paralyzed by the horrors of World War I.
05:35They were determined to avoid war at all costs.
05:38And they got the worst war ever.
05:41They adopted a policy of appeasement.
05:44They closed their eyes and ears to all the warning signs.
05:47That failure to act resulted in World War II, the deadliest war in history.
05:54It claimed the lives of 60 million, including 6 million Jews, a third of my people.
06:00After that war, the Jewish people and the Jewish state vowed, never again.
06:06Well, never again is now.
06:09Today, Israel has shown that we have learned the lessons of history.
06:14When enemies vow to destroy you, believe them.
06:17When enemies build weapons of mass death, stop them.
06:21As the Bible teaches us, when someone comes to kill you, rise and act first.
06:28This is exactly what Israel has done today.
06:30We have risen like lions to defend ourselves.
06:34Over 3,000 years ago, Moses gave the people of Israel a message that has steeled our resolve
06:40ever since.
06:41Be strong and courageous, he said.
06:44Today, our strong and courageous soldiers and people stand together to defend ourselves
06:50against those who seek our destruction.
06:53And by defending ourselves, we defend many others and we roll back a murderous tyranny.
07:00Let us know what happens for now.
07:01History will record that our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our
07:08common future.
07:09May God bless Israel.
07:11May God bless the forces of civilization everywhere.
07:14May God bless Israel.