Operation Lion’s Roar: Why Israel Had No Choice
- Hananya Naftali
- 3 minutes ago
- 4 min read
How many times does a regime have to threaten genocide before you believe it?
For 47 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has built its identity around one obsession: the destruction of Israel and the weakening of the United States. It has funded terrorists, armed militias, fired missiles, pursued nuclear capability, and destabilized an entire region.
On February 28, 2026, Israel and the United States launched Operation Lion’s Roar, a coordinated strike against the Iranian regime’s military infrastructure and leadership assets.
This was not reckless. It was not emotional. It was not optional.
It was necessary.
The Regime’s Record: This Is Not Speculation
1. Iran Is the World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terror
According to U.S. and international assessments, Iran spends over $1 billion annually funding and arming proxy militias and terrorist organizations across the Middle East. That includes:
Hezbollah in Lebanon
Hamas in Gaza
Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria
Armed groups in Yemen
Terror cells across Europe and Latin America.
These are not political charities. They are armed organizations responsible for rocket attacks, suicide bombings, kidnappings, and regional destabilization.
Hezbollah alone possessed an estimated 150,000 rockets, before Israel destroyed many of its capabilities. That arsenal existed because Iran built it.
If France had 150,000 rockets aimed at Berlin, would Europe call that “regional tension”? No. It would call it war preparation.
2. Iran Has Already Attacked Israel Directly
In 2024, Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel, the largest direct assault in the history of the conflict. Israeli civilians were killed and infrastructure damaged.
That wasn’t theoretical hostility. That was an act of war.
When a regime proves it is willing to fire missiles at your cities, you do not wait for the next round to be larger.
3. Iran’s Missile Program Threatens Europe and U.S. Forces
Iran possesses one of the largest ballistic missile programs in the Middle East. Its missiles already reach:
Israel
U.S. bases across the Gulf
Parts of Europe
Western intelligence services have long warned that Iran continues to improve range, accuracy, and payload capability.
Combine that with nuclear ambition, even if temporarily slowed, and you have a formula that threatens not only Jerusalem, but Paris, Berlin, Rome, and American forces overseas.
This is not Israel exaggerating. This is strategic reality.
Diplomacy Was Attempted, and Rejected
In the weeks before Operation Lion’s Roar, negotiations between Washington and Tehran stalled. Iran refused meaningful restrictions on missile development. It continued rebuilding military capacity after previous strikes.
Diplomacy only works when both sides want peace.
Tehran wants leverage.
It wants deterrence through fear.
It wants the ability to threaten neighbors into submission.
Israel has lived long enough to understand the difference. And also let's not forget the brutality of the Islamic regime against its very own people.
In recent years:
Thousands of protesters were killed during demonstrations (and over 32,000 killed in the recent round of protests alone!)
Teenagers were imprisoned and executed after mass unrest.
Women were beaten and detained for violating state dress codes.
Internet blackouts were imposed to crush dissent.
A government that murders its own citizens to maintain power will not hesitate to endanger foreign civilians.
The Iranian people are not the enemy. The regime is.
When protests erupt in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz, they are crushed by force. When citizens celebrate hope, they are silenced.
A regime afraid of its own people is unstable. An unstable regime with missiles is dangerous. An unstable regime with missiles and nuclear ambition is catastrophic.
Israel’s Strategic Reality
Israel is the size of New Jersey.
There is no strategic depth. No “fallback territory.” No second chance.
One nuclear weapon in the wrong hands is not just a policy debate, it is an existential question.
Israel’s military leadership made clear that Operation Lion’s Roar was planned for months. This was not reactionary. It was calculated.
The objective was clear: degrade the regime’s ability to:
Launch missile barrages
Rebuild strategic military infrastructure
Expand nuclear potential
Coordinate terror proxies
When you know a threat is growing, and you know the clock is ticking, waiting becomes negligence.
The Threat to the West Is Real
Iran-backed militias have attacked U.S. bases.Iran-backed groups have been linked to plots and operations that reached into Europe. Iran’s ideology is openly anti-Western and anti-democratic.
The regime chants “Death to Israel.”It also chants “Death to America.”
When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
Europe should not be comfortable with a regime that builds long-range missile capability while openly embracing extremist ideology.
This is not about borders.This is about the stability of the international order.
There is a verse that speaks directly to this moment:
“If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.”— Sanhedrin 72a
For centuries, Jews were told to wait. Wait for justice. Wait for protection. Wait for the world to care.
History showed what waiting produced.
Israel exists because Jews decided that never again means never again.
Not later. Not diplomatically convenient. Not after another massacre.
Never again means acting before annihilation becomes possible.
Strength Creates the Possibility of Peace
Operation Lion’s Roar is not a celebration of war. It is a recognition of reality.
If the Iranian regime’s missile factories are destroyed, the region is safer. If its terror networks are weakened, more people live. If its nuclear ambitions are delayed or dismantled, Europe and America breathe easier.
A free Iran would transform the Middle East. A Middle East not dominated by clerical extremism could finally pursue stability, economic growth, and normal relations.
Hope does not come from pretending evil isn’t real. Hope comes from confronting it.
Israel did not act because it wanted a fight.
Israel acted because survival is not negotiable.
And when history looks back at this moment, the question will not be whether Israel escalated.
The question will be whether Israel prevented something far worse.
Sometimes, the roar of a lion is not aggression.
It is a warning, and a shield.