Jewish World Update Sep/Oct 2025
Two Hours That Transformed a Region
by David Yaari
(JNS)— The Jewish people and the Jewish state have learned the harshest lessons from history. When a regime openly declares its intent to destroy a nation and works methodically to acquire the means to do so, inaction is not an option.
This is why, on June 5, 1967, Israel launched a preemptive air strike that neutralized the Egyptian and Syrian air forces in a matter of hours. That bold and calculated action and the ensuing Six-Day War changed the face of the Middle East and ensured the survival of the fledgling Jewish state.
History echoed on June 13, 2025, as Israel again acted decisively, this time striking directly at the heart of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In a stunning, coordinated mission called Operation Rising Lion, more than 200 Israeli Air Force fighter jets executed a preemptive strike on key Iranian nuclear sites, infrastructure, and leadership. Among those eliminated were top Iranian military architects and generals gathered in a closed-door meeting, planning their imminent missile strike on Israel.
This operation was not impulsive. It was the culmination of more than 30 years of warnings, diplomacy, restraint, and endless attempts at peaceful resolution. The Islamic Republic of Iran has never been vague about its intentions. Its leaders have declared—clearly, consistently, and repeatedly—their desire to annihilate the Jewish state. And while Israel hoped the West’s diplomatic efforts might yield a different course, the time for illusions is long past.
The June 13 attack was not a strike against the Iranian people but against the terror regime that has hijacked their country and brought darkness to the region. This same regime arms, funds, and trains Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and countless other terrorist proxies. From Buenos Aires to Bulgaria, from Syria to Sudan, the Iranian regime’s fingerprints are everywhere terror has taken root.
June 13—6/13 on the calendar—carries deep symbolism. To Jewish people, the number 613 represents the total commandments in the Torah. It is a number of meaning, of mission, of moral clarity. And on June 13, that clarity was put into action.
Israel does not seek war. Israel seeks peace. And where hands have been mutually extended in peace, peace has flourished. There is peace with Egypt. There is peace with Jordan. The Abraham Accords have yielded a beautiful peace with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and South Sudan. But when Israel’s enemies choose terror and destruction, the Jewish state meets them with resilience, resolve, and strength.
Let June 13 not only be remembered as the day Israel defended itself; let it be remembered as the day that marked the beginning of the liberation for the Iranian people—the beginning of a future where they can throw off the shackles of tyranny and rejoin the community of nations with dignity and freedom.
Operation Rising Lion reminds the world that when tyrants declare their genocidal intent and acquire the means to achieve it, we must believe them and act before it is too late. Terror must never be cooperated with or condoned. It must be uprooted.
History has turned a page. A two-hour window changed the trajectory of a region and reminded the world that the Jewish people will not wait for their destruction before acting.
June 13, 2025, is a date that will be remembered in history not just as a day of bold, decisive moral leadership and inspiring intelligence and precision execution, but as the day the tide began to turn.
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