February 28, 2026

Source: https://x.com/GPOIsrael/status/2027669194515345820 and https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-netanyahus-message-as-israel-us-strike-iran-we-will-remove-existential-threat/

For the fourth time in two years, Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, continuing a systematic process of trying to remove Iran as a strategic, physical and ideological threat.

For half a century, Iran has been the epicenter of the Muslim world’s hatred toward the Jewish state. Iranian leaders and Iran’s regional proxies repeatedly have advocated the killing of Jews and Israel’s destruction.

In the previous three attacks, in April and October 2024 and June 2025, Israel slowed Iran’s nuclear weaponization, damaged its missile production and deployment capabilities, and decapitated its senior leadership. Each time Israel expanded its air superiority over Iran.

Since Hamas’ brutal surprise attack October 7, 2023, Israel has continued to retaliate against Iran and its proxies in an effort to rebuild and strengthen its strategic deterrence and to protect its citizenry from further attacks. Rather than wait to be attacked again, Israel chose to undermine the Iranian regime by degrading its military capabilities.

Israel’s 12-day Operating Rising Lion in June 2025 was joined by the United States, which targeted Iran’s nuclear weapons in Operation Midnight Hammer.

The U.S.-Israeli operations in February 2026 confirmed that the strikes eight months earlier did not succeed in destroying the Iranian nuclear program. But it also is certain that the Islamist Iranian regime will not negotiate the termination of its quest for a nuclear weapon.

The attack February 28 came 2½ days before the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his announcement could not resist drawing parallels to the story of Esther and the Jewish people’s survival in the face of a genocidal threat from the Persian government more than 2,500 years ago.

Netanyahu cited the joint U.S.-Israeli operation as evidence of U.S. President Donald Trump’s close friendship and the ever-tightening relationship between the countries. What Netanyahu did not indicate was how much Arab states, particularly those around the Persian Gulf, actively or tacitly cooperated in the joint attacks.

The primary focus of Netanyahu’s nine-minute speech was the need to eliminate Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, strategic existential threats that he has campaigned against throughout his time as prime minister.

Netanyahu told the Israeli people that the war could be costly and long but was necessary. He appealed to the Iranian people for their friendship, distinguishing between the hated regime and its people.

He joined Trump, who addressed the American people early the same day, in emphasizing the opportunity for the Iranian people to overthrow their oppressive regime and restore the Israeli-Iranian friendship that existed before 1979. Trump was more dire, telling Iranians that they might not have another opportunity for freedom for generations.

It remained unclear whether the Iranian Islamic regime would fall and, if so, who or what would replace it and whether the new government would be less autocratic and more citizen-sympathetic than the clerical oligarchy and the internal security forces that had kept it in power since 1979.

— Ken Stein and Michael Jacobs, February 28, 2026

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (translated from Hebrew): My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short while ago Israel and the United States launched a joint campaign, Operation Roaring Lion.

The goal of the operation is to put an end to the threat from the ayatollah regime in Iran. At this hour the IDF is striking targets of the oppressive regime, facilities of the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij, and, together with the U.S. military, ballistic missile sites that threaten both Israel and U.S. forces.

This operation will continue as long as necessary.

For 47 years, the evil regime in Iran has called for “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” It has trampled its own citizens, spread fear across the peoples of the region and deployed a vast global terror network. It has invested enormous resources in developing nuclear bombs and tens of thousands of missiles intended, as it put it, to wipe Israel off the map.

It has also armed terror proxies around us — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria — and has shed our blood.

If anyone needed further proof of the murderous nature of the ayatollah regime, they received it last month. We all saw how this regime of terror in Tehran carried out an unprecedented mass slaughter of Iran’s own citizens.

It murdered thousands of children, adults and elderly people in cold blood. Tens of thousands were arrested, tortured and abused. And why? Simply because they sought lives of freedom and dignity.

In the War of Revival and in Operation Rising Lion, our heroic soldiers struck the ayatollah regime and its proxies with decisive force. But the wounded beast has not ceased its attempts to recover in order to continue pursuing its goal of destruction.

In recent months, the tyrants in Iran have been plotting to rebuild their nuclear and missile capabilities and to hide them underground, where we would not be able to strike them. If we do not stop them now, they will become immune.

To buy time, their representatives have been conducting futile and deceptive negotiations with our American friends. But the tyrants in Iran have made a grave mistake. The United States does not buy their lies, and we will not sit idly by while the shadow of annihilation looms over us.

Therefore, we have now launched Operation Roaring Lion, an action far more powerful than Operation Rising Lion, which was itself very powerful. We are doing this in full coordination with our friends in the U.S., under the courageous leadership of [President Donald] Trump.

Together with the U.S., we will strike the terror regime hard and create conditions that will enable the brave Iranian people to cast off the yoke of this murderous regime.

During Operation Rising Lion, I was often asked whether toppling the regime was an objective of the operation, in addition to eliminating the nuclear and missile threat. I replied that it was not the objective, but it could certainly be the result. Indeed, that is exactly what began to happen when millions of Iranians took to the streets, and now they are being given the opportunity to take their destiny into their own hands.

Citizens of Israel, as in Rising Lion, so too in Roaring Lion we will all be required to show patience and inner strength.

There will be costs, perhaps even heavy ones. But I know what remarkable strength lies within our people — what remarkable strength lies within you, citizens of Israel.

Since the War of Revival began, we have stood together, and today as well we will stand together with courage, brotherhood and mutual responsibility. I ask all of you to strictly follow the instructions of the Home Front Command. You already know these instructions save lives.

Challenging days lie ahead. Every military action carries risk. But the risk of not acting is far greater. If we do not act, we will face a nuclear Iran, an Iran with tens of thousands of ballistic missiles, an Iran that seeks to destroy us and would be immune to our countermeasures.

As a people that cherishes life, we have no choice but to go to battle. But this time we do so with the combined mighty power of the State of Israel and the United States of America.

From here, I wish to address the citizens of Iran: You, the people of Iran, and the honorable Iranian army are not our enemies, and we are not your enemies. We have a common enemy: the murderous clique of ayatollahs that seized control of you through the oppressive forces of the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij. They are the ones who have dragged your wonderful country down to the lowest depths. They are the ones who have fired upon you, upon your masses.

Therefore, in full coordination with the president of the United States, I say to you: Anyone who lays down his weapon, including among the regime’s forces, will ensure his safety and secure his future.

The Iranian people in all their parts — the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baloch, the Ahwazis and all the other citizens of that great nation — this is your opportunity to establish a new and free Iran. Take your destiny into your own hands. Lift your heads, raise your eyes to the sky. Our forces are there, pilots of the free world, coming to your aid.

I believe the day is not far when Israel and a free Iran will join hands for security and peace, for progress and prosperity.

Citizens of Israel, I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart the president of the United States, Donald Trump, the American people, and the American military. President Trump is not only Israel’s greatest friend ever to sit in the White House; he is also a determined leader of the free world. He looks to future generations, decides what is good for America, and then acts with responsibility and courage.

Together we are bringing great light to all who value freedom.

In your name, citizens of Israel, I salute the commanders and soldiers of the IDF, our Air Force, the Intelligence Directorate, the Mossad, the men and women of the security services, and the men and women of the rescue forces. I commend them for their courage and the strength of their actions. A whole nation stands behind you. A whole nation prays for your success.

My brothers and sisters, in two days we will celebrate the holiday of Purim. Two and a half thousand years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal: to destroy our people completely. But Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, through their courage and resourcefulness, saved our people. In those days of Purim, the lot fell, and the wicked Haman fell with it.

Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and the evil regime’s end will also come. The prophet Amos said: “The lion has roared — who will not fear?” In Operation Roaring Lion, we roar. Do not fear, Israel, for the lion’s cub has risen.

We will stand as one, with one heart, and, with God’s help, we will ensure the future of Israel.