A new sculpture made from debris and fragments of Iranian missiles that struck Rehovot during the operations “With the Lion” and “Roar of the Lion” was unveiled earlier this week in an emotional ceremony attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Mayor Matan Dil. The work was created by artist Emilio Mugilner, who conceived the idea in the days after the first attack as a way to transform destruction into art that tells the city’s story and reflects its ability to rise from crisis.
During the “Roar of the Lion” operation, Mugilner added more remnants collected from impact sites in the city. The finished sculpture stands 3.7 meters tall and 5 meters wide. Even before construction was completed, Rehovot’s municipality agreed with the artist that it would be placed in the municipal market square, which sustained a direct hit.
The city says the installation is meant to memorialize Rehovot’s resilience and serve as a symbol of renewal, hope and community strength. At a post-ceremony meeting, Katz said, “From destruction came sweetness. From the ruins and from the hard blow we suffered on October 7, the people of Israel knew how to strike their enemies and turn pain into strength.” He added that the artwork recalls Samson and the lion, calling it a reminder that “out of hardship and ruin, hope, strength and rebirth can grow,” and said, “Rehovot has recovered and continues to recover.”
Dil said Rehovot had faced difficult challenges over the past two years and had repeatedly shown its strength. He said the sculpture’s construction from local ruins gives it special meaning and shows how destruction can be turned into creation, pain into hope, and crisis into opportunity and growth. He described the lion as a call to protect the Jewish people and the home front through unity. Rehovot is also the first city in Israel to advance postwar reconstruction of a damaged area under the war-damage rehabilitation law through urban renewal, aiming not only to repair the damage but to redesign the space more safely and more modernly.
