Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Saturday, 7 March 2026) [translated from Hebrew]:
"My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel.
We are in a fateful campaign for our very existence. A week has passed since the start of Operation Roaring Lion and I want to salute our heroic pilots, the ground crews that are working around the clock, and our courageous fighters in Lebanon and on all fronts.
I wish to express my deepest appreciation to you, the citizens of Israel, for your steadfastness, for the way you are conducting yourselves in this emergency, understanding the gravity of the hour and following Home Front Command instructions which truly save lives.
In the secure rooms and protected spaces, you are demonstrating a powerful spirit. You tell me, the Government, and our heroic soldiers and commanders: 'Continue until the end, until victory!'
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your backing, and I inform you: We are continuing with full force!
Wars are won with initiative and stratagems but the first foundation of success is determination.
I am not just talking about the determination of leaders; I am talking about the determination of the people. I am talking about the determination that you, the citizens of Israel, have shown until today and the determination that will yet be required of us together.
Together we rose from the terrible massacre of October 7. Together we repelled our enemies step by step in the War of Redemption, and we struck them hip and thigh.
In Gaza, Sinwar and his murderers.
In Lebanon – Nasrallah and his terrorists.
In Syria – we brought about the fall of the bloody regime.
And in Iran, in Iran we struck the murderous regime of the ayatollahs in Operation Rising Lion, and now, we are doing so with even greater vigor in Operation Roaring Lion.
At the same time, we brought all of our hostages home, struck the centers of terrorism in Judea and Samaria, climbed to the peak of Mount Hermon, and created buffer zones in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. As I promised you two days after October 7, we are changing the face of the Middle East.
But we didn't just change the Middle East. First and foremost, we changed ourselves. Because after the great disaster of October 7, I decided to lead a polar shift: Powerful actions one after another, proactive and surprising actions, actions that dramatically change the balance of power between us and our enemies.
Through these methods, we turned Israel into a regional power that deters and defeats its enemies. All of this requires initiative, daring, and risk-taking. In the General Staff Reconnaissance unit in which I served as a fighter and commander, a large poster hung in the dining hall with two words, only two words: 'Who Dares Wins!' If you do not dare, if you are constantly afraid of failure, you will lose. But if you do dare, if you take calculated risks, knocking the enemy off balance, you break his spirit.
Now I will describe to you why we embarked on Operation Roaring Lion, what we have done so far, and what we will do as the campaign continues.
Standing before us is an extremist, evil regime that for 47 years has called for 'Death to Israel,' 'Death to America' and which plots to destroy us with atomic bombs and tens of thousands of ballistic missiles.
President Trump understood the magnitude of the danger to the US and the entire world long ago. I will tell you that when I met him in Florida, a few months before he was elected to his second term, the first thing he said to me was: 'Bibi, we must at all costs prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
I would like to thank my friend, President Trump, for the historic leadership he is demonstrating, for the brave friendship between us, and for the alliance, which is stronger than ever, between the US and Israel that we are both leading.
In Operation Rising Lion, we joined forces to remove the immediate danger from Israel and the US. But the tyrant from Tehran, Khamenei, did not heed President Trump’s warnings, nor did he heed mine.
He ordered the restoration of Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities, and even buried them deep, deep underground, beneath high mountains, so that they would be completely immune to any strike.
There is no doubt that after achieving this underground immunity, the ayatollahs’ regime would have used these terrible tools to destroy us, Israel, and threaten the US, Europe, the countries of the region, and the entire world with nuclear weapons.
After all, this is exactly what this terrorist regime is doing now, even without weapons of mass destruction. Imagine what it would do if it had nuclear weapons.
Based on this foresight, we set out together, the US and Israel, on an action that would thwart these terrible threats, an action that would create the conditions to allow the Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.
There was an additional danger here. There was the danger that Iran would preempt us, that Iran would strike first at American targets in the region as well as at Israel.
For all these reasons, we acted at the appointed time.
As for what we have done so far: In the first week of the war, we eliminated the tyrant Khamenei, neutralized dozens of senior Revolutionary Guard officials and hundreds of terrorist operatives, destroyed government facilities, nuclear infrastructure, headquarters and military bases, weapon factories, missile and drone warehouses, and hundreds of ballistic missile launchers, which reduces the threat to the State of Israel.
Through our daring pilots and those of the US, we achieved almost total control of Iranian skies.
With each passing day, we are peeling away more and more of the Iranian regime's capabilities.
We are doing the same in Lebanon, with crushing attacks on Hezbollah terrorists, Iran's puppets. I say again to the Lebanese government: It is your responsibility to enforce the ceasefire agreement and it is your responsibility to disarm Hezbollah. If you do not do so, Hezbollah’s aggression will bring catastrophic consequences upon Lebanon. It is time for you, too, to take your destiny into your hands. We will, in any case, do everything necessary to protect our communities and our citizens.
Regarding what we will do next in Iran: We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change. We have many more targets, and I will not detail them here. But to the Revolutionary Guard operatives, those who tyrannize the Iranian people in the streets, I say only this: You, too, are in the crosshairs. Whoever lays down his weapon, no harm will come to him. He who does not will pay the price.
And to the Iranian people I say: I have been speaking to you and for you for decades. The moment of truth is approaching. For we do not seek to divide Iran. We seek to liberate Iran and live in peace with it. But at the end of the day, liberation from the yoke of tyranny, this liberation will depend on you, the brave and long-suffering Iranian people. I believe that if you stand up at the moment of truth, the day will not be far off when Israel and Iran return to being brave friends.
Whoever sees the joint waving of flags in Western capitals, the Iranian 'Lion and Sun' flag and the Israeli 'Star of David' flag; whoever sees the dancing and warm embraces between exiled Iranians and Jews; whoever sees all this is deeply moved. This gives immense hope for the future. Our success will bring not only the removal of a nuclear threat from the entire world, and not only peace between Israel and Iran. It will also bring a dramatic expansion of the circle of peace around us.
Today everyone understands that the ayatollahs’ regime endangers the entire world. In recent days, Iran has attacked 12 countries around it. We stand by them. All these countries see the immense power of Israel, our willingness to fight the tyrants in Tehran, the heroism of the army and the heroism of the people, and our vast military and technological capabilities. Many countries are turning to us now for cooperation. And why are they doing so? Why are they turning to us specifically now? Because we are strong, because we are right, because we are fighting!
The countries around us see the hypocrisy of the UN, which condemned us without reason in our just war against Iran’s murderous proxies in Gaza, yet that same UN did nothing in the face of the mass slaughter in Iran. These countries, which were attacked by Iran, see the weakness and feebleness of leaders in the West who simply abandoned them. While Khamenei and his murderers slaughtered tens of thousands of Iranian citizens, where was the UN?! Where were many countries in the West? And where was the international media that constantly condemns us with fake news? They were nowhere; they simply vanished.
Many countries see today exactly who can be trusted. Israel serves as a beacon of strength and hope. Thanks to this strength, we will be able to expand the circle of security, peace, and prosperity in the future on a scale we have never known.
Citizens of Israel, at this moment we are still in the midst of a difficult campaign. We will not cease to struggle against the tyrants in Iran. We will strike them without mercy. Operation Roaring Lion will continue with uncompromising momentum.
Together we will continue to stand firm, together we will roar like a lion, and with G-d’s help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Saturday, 7 March 2026) [translated from Hebrew]:
"My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel.
We are in a fateful campaign for our very existence. A week has passed since the start of Operation Roaring Lion and I want to salute our heroic pilots, the ground crews that are working around the clock, and our courageous fighters in Lebanon and on all fronts.
I wish to express my deepest appreciation to you, the citizens of Israel, for your steadfastness, for the way you are conducting yourselves in this emergency, understanding the gravity of the hour and following Home Front Command instructions which truly save lives.
In the secure rooms and protected spaces, you are demonstrating a powerful spirit. You tell me, the Government, and our heroic soldiers and commanders: 'Continue until the end, until victory!'
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your backing, and I inform you: We are continuing with full force!
Wars are won with initiative and stratagems but the first foundation of success is determination.
I am not just talking about the determination of leaders; I am talking about the determination of the people. I am talking about the determination that you, the citizens of Israel, have shown until today and the determination that will yet be required of us together.
Together we rose from the terrible massacre of October 7. Together we repelled our enemies step by step in the War of Redemption, and we struck them hip and thigh.
In Gaza, Sinwar and his murderers.
In Lebanon – Nasrallah and his terrorists.
In Syria – we brought about the fall of the bloody regime.
And in Iran, in Iran we struck the murderous regime of the ayatollahs in Operation Rising Lion, and now, we are doing so with even greater vigor in Operation Roaring Lion.
At the same time, we brought all of our hostages home, struck the centers of terrorism in Judea and Samaria, climbed to the peak of Mount Hermon, and created buffer zones in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. As I promised you two days after October 7, we are changing the face of the Middle East.
But we didn't just change the Middle East. First and foremost, we changed ourselves. Because after the great disaster of October 7, I decided to lead a polar shift: Powerful actions one after another, proactive and surprising actions, actions that dramatically change the balance of power between us and our enemies.
Through these methods, we turned Israel into a regional power that deters and defeats its enemies. All of this requires initiative, daring, and risk-taking. In the General Staff Reconnaissance unit in which I served as a fighter and commander, a large poster hung in the dining hall with two words, only two words: 'Who Dares Wins!' If you do not dare, if you are constantly afraid of failure, you will lose. But if you do dare, if you take calculated risks, knocking the enemy off balance, you break his spirit.
Now I will describe to you why we embarked on Operation Roaring Lion, what we have done so far, and what we will do as the campaign continues.
Standing before us is an extremist, evil regime that for 47 years has called for 'Death to Israel,' 'Death to America' and which plots to destroy us with atomic bombs and tens of thousands of ballistic missiles.
President Trump understood the magnitude of the danger to the US and the entire world long ago. I will tell you that when I met him in Florida, a few months before he was elected to his second term, the first thing he said to me was: 'Bibi, we must at all costs prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
I would like to thank my friend, President Trump, for the historic leadership he is demonstrating, for the brave friendship between us, and for the alliance, which is stronger than ever, between the US and Israel that we are both leading.
In Operation Rising Lion, we joined forces to remove the immediate danger from Israel and the US. But the tyrant from Tehran, Khamenei, did not heed President Trump’s warnings, nor did he heed mine.
He ordered the restoration of Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities, and even buried them deep, deep underground, beneath high mountains, so that they would be completely immune to any strike.
There is no doubt that after achieving this underground immunity, the ayatollahs’ regime would have used these terrible tools to destroy us, Israel, and threaten the US, Europe, the countries of the region, and the entire world with nuclear weapons.
After all, this is exactly what this terrorist regime is doing now, even without weapons of mass destruction. Imagine what it would do if it had nuclear weapons.
Based on this foresight, we set out together, the US and Israel, on an action that would thwart these terrible threats, an action that would create the conditions to allow the Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.
There was an additional danger here. There was the danger that Iran would preempt us, that Iran would strike first at American targets in the region as well as at Israel.
For all these reasons, we acted at the appointed time.
As for what we have done so far: In the first week of the war, we eliminated the tyrant Khamenei, neutralized dozens of senior Revolutionary Guard officials and hundreds of terrorist operatives, destroyed government facilities, nuclear infrastructure, headquarters and military bases, weapon factories, missile and drone warehouses, and hundreds of ballistic missile launchers, which reduces the threat to the State of Israel.
Through our daring pilots and those of the US, we achieved almost total control of Iranian skies.
With each passing day, we are peeling away more and more of the Iranian regime's capabilities.
We are doing the same in Lebanon, with crushing attacks on Hezbollah terrorists, Iran's puppets. I say again to the Lebanese government: It is your responsibility to enforce the ceasefire agreement and it is your responsibility to disarm Hezbollah. If you do not do so, Hezbollah’s aggression will bring catastrophic consequences upon Lebanon. It is time for you, too, to take your destiny into your hands. We will, in any case, do everything necessary to protect our communities and our citizens.
Regarding what we will do next in Iran: We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change. We have many more targets, and I will not detail them here. But to the Revolutionary Guard operatives, those who tyrannize the Iranian people in the streets, I say only this: You, too, are in the crosshairs. Whoever lays down his weapon, no harm will come to him. He who does not will pay the price.
And to the Iranian people I say: I have been speaking to you and for you for decades. The moment of truth is approaching. For we do not seek to divide Iran. We seek to liberate Iran and live in peace with it. But at the end of the day, liberation from the yoke of tyranny, this liberation will depend on you, the brave and long-suffering Iranian people. I believe that if you stand up at the moment of truth, the day will not be far off when Israel and Iran return to being brave friends.
Whoever sees the joint waving of flags in Western capitals, the Iranian 'Lion and Sun' flag and the Israeli 'Star of David' flag; whoever sees the dancing and warm embraces between exiled Iranians and Jews; whoever sees all this is deeply moved. This gives immense hope for the future. Our success will bring not only the removal of a nuclear threat from the entire world, and not only peace between Israel and Iran. It will also bring a dramatic expansion of the circle of peace around us.
Today everyone understands that the ayatollahs’ regime endangers the entire world. In recent days, Iran has attacked 12 countries around it. We stand by them. All these countries see the immense power of Israel, our willingness to fight the tyrants in Tehran, the heroism of the army and the heroism of the people, and our vast military and technological capabilities. Many countries are turning to us now for cooperation. And why are they doing so? Why are they turning to us specifically now? Because we are strong, because we are right, because we are fighting!
The countries around us see the hypocrisy of the UN, which condemned us without reason in our just war against Iran’s murderous proxies in Gaza, yet that same UN did nothing in the face of the mass slaughter in Iran. These countries, which were attacked by Iran, see the weakness and feebleness of leaders in the West who simply abandoned them. While Khamenei and his murderers slaughtered tens of thousands of Iranian citizens, where was the UN?! Where were many countries in the West? And where was the international media that constantly condemns us with fake news? They were nowhere; they simply vanished.
Many countries see today exactly who can be trusted. Israel serves as a beacon of strength and hope. Thanks to this strength, we will be able to expand the circle of security, peace, and prosperity in the future on a scale we have never known.
Citizens of Israel, at this moment we are still in the midst of a difficult campaign. We will not cease to struggle against the tyrants in Iran. We will strike them without mercy. Operation Roaring Lion will continue with uncompromising momentum.
Together we will continue to stand firm, together we will roar like a lion, and with G-d’s help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel."
