Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the launch of Operation Rising Lion, targeting Iranian nuclear sites, in a note placed in the Western Wall on Thursday, hours before the planned launch of strikes.

The note, which was revealed to the Israeli public on Friday morning, contained a verse from the Torah, from which the inspiration for the name of the IDF's operation was drawn.

The note quoted the Book of Numbers 23:24, reading: "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion."

The full verse reads as follows: "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain."

How Israel misled Tehran before Iran strike

The prime minister's visit to the Western Wall, in the capital of Jerusalem, may have been part of a coordinated Israeli plan to distract Tehran from the pre-dawn strike.
The note placed in the Western Wall by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 12, 2025 (credit: ZIV KOREN/GPO)
The note placed in the Western Wall by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 12, 2025 (credit: ZIV KOREN/GPO)
In the days leading up to the strike, the Prime Minister’s Office appeared to have orchestrated a series of false signals, including "leaking" strategy, fabricating a vacation ruse, and using talks with the United States as a decoy.

Early on Friday morning, dozens of Israeli aircraft participated in an initial wave of strikes on dozens of military targets and  nuclear sites across Iran

The IDF had not stopped attacking since the initial wave, during which the killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami was confirmed by Iranian state media.