Netanyahu Claimed He Saved Israel From Annihilation, But the Iranian Nuclear Threat Remains
On Monday night, June 15, 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared before television cameras and used a forceful, almost paternal tone to argue that he had rescued Israel from destruction. He said he had fought Iran’s nuclear armament for decades, calling it “the mission of my life,” and insisted, “With a deal, without a deal, Iran will not have nuclear weapons. As long as I am prime minister of Israel, it will not happen.” He added that Israel had removed an “immediate threat of annihilation” and that “we saved the State of Israel from destruction.”
The article says that message is misleading and that Netanyahu helped create the danger he now claims to have defeated. It quotes a senior intelligence source involved in the planning of Operation Rising Lion, who said he was stunned by Netanyahu’s claim that Israel had removed both the nuclear and missile threats, calling it “the height of hubris and the force of the lie.” The source said the operation achieved its objectives, but was “light years” from eliminating the threat.
The piece retraces the nuclear timeline back to Netanyahu’s September 27, 2012 UN speech, where he warned that the real danger was not a finished bomb but enriched uranium. He argued then that Iran could reach the final stage within months, and that the world needed to stop it before it amassed enough material. The article says that analysis was correct, because highly enriched material, unlike a large reactor, can be hidden and turned into a weapon in a small, concealed facility.
After the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was limited to about 300 kilograms of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent, centrifuge numbers were capped, Fordow was downgraded, and IAEA monitoring tightened. Netanyahu opposed the agreement, and after the Mossad stole Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018, Donald Trump withdrew from the deal. The article says Israeli intelligence professionals warned that if the U.S. left, Iran might not collapse but instead resume enrichment, which is what happened: Iran later reached 20 percent and then 60 percent enrichment, while oversight eroded.
By the time of Operation Rising Lion, the article says Iran held enough highly enriched material for 10 to 12 bombs, while key unknowns remained about centrifuges, stockpiles, and the possible weaponization track. It argues the decision to launch the operation came not only from military opportunity and U.S. backing, but also from a broader and ultimately failed push to topple the Iranian regime. In the end, the article says, the core problem, enriched uranium, remained in Iranian hands, and Netanyahu’s claim of having saved Israel from annihilation obscures both the danger that still exists and his role in bringing it about.
