“Iran’s indiscriminate fire at population centers is a war crime,” National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told The Jerusalem Post, opening a candid assessment of Operation Rising Lion.
“That same pattern – indiscriminate barrages against civilian concentrations – occurred in April and again in October 2024 and only strengthened our resolve to uproot these state-sponsored terror capabilities at their source.”
Operation Rising Lion relies solely on the capabilities of the IDF, Hanegbi said, underscoring that Israel has borne the burden of planning and execution.
“The United States has supported us in defending our home front with great success,” he added, “and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally thanked President [Donald] Trump for that assistance. But the independent Israeli plan is designed to inflict real, lasting damage on Iran’s military nuclear infrastructure.”
Hanegbi outlined a series of “operational milestones” already achieved.
“We struck the leadership driving Iran’s weapons development, and hit key sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Arak. Even as the operation continues, these strikes will resonate over the long term.”
On the possibility of US forces joining the campaign, he was frank.
“We have no way of knowing what the US administration will decide. Any decision – either way – will be taken solely based on the United States’ national security considerations.”
Addressing reports that Iranian television, radio, and police facilities had been targeted, Hanegbi was unequivocal.
“Israel strikes only targets that serve Iran’s military apparatus. There is no attack on purely civilian sites that do not contribute to the military operation.”
Set back Iran’s bomb-making timeline
When asked how much the campaign has set back Iran’s bomb-making timeline, he said, “We will be able to assess that only after Operation Rising Lion concludes,” but added that the removal of senior nuclear-weapons figures and destruction of key enrichment sites would have “a significant, multi-year impact.”
Hanegbi also confirmed that regional spillover risks were a factor in the decision-making process.
“Before launching Rising Lion, Israel weighed every consideration, including the potential for broader conflict – whether Iran would strike Gulf bases or we would hit oil and gas infrastructure. We waited many months to exhaust every diplomatic avenue between the United States and Iran over Iran’s military nuclear program.”
He charged that Tehran had used negotiations as a smokescreen.
“As expected, Iran exploited diplomatic channels merely to buy time, with no genuine intent to reach an agreement. During that period, it accelerated weapons-grade fuel production and massively expanded missile manufacturing. Every day without a deal brought the ayatollahs closer to possessing a weapon of mass destruction.”
Hanegbi praised Trump for publicly exposing Iran’s duplicity from the outset.
“President Trump recognized Iran’s manipulation immediately and called it out in public,” he said.
Looking back on the roots of the campaign, Hanegbi invoked two decades of warnings from Netanyahu.
“For more than 20 years, the prime minister has warned of the folly in accepting Iran’s public claims that its nuclear program is purely peaceful. He emphasized that Iran’s ballistic-missile buildup threatens not only Israel but all regional states – and even parts of Europe.”
With Iran flouting UN Security Council resolutions, Hanegbi argued, Israel faced a stark choice.
“We could act, or we could acquiesce to the arming of a brutal, fanatical regime with weapons capable of unleashing a second – and final – holocaust.”
He recalled the prime minister’s words when authorizing Rising Lion: “We have no option but to act. Inaction carries one consequence only: an existential threat to the state. As leaders responsible for our people’s fate, our duty is to remove this danger.”
On the question of proportionality and civilian risk, Hanegbi insisted that intelligence and targeting procedures “adhere strictly to international law and the laws of armed conflict. Collateral damage is never the objective – only the removal of clear military threats.”
Hanegbi said Israel “remains open to any diplomatic solution that genuinely dismantles Iran’s military nuclear program. But after decades of broken promises, we could no longer wait while the clock to a uranium bomb ticked ever closer. Rising Lion was our final recourse – and we will see it through to its conclusion.”