After the US strikes on Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where he left a note and prayed. A video of this moment was published on his page in X.
He went to the most important shrine for Jews, dressed in a kippah, putting a tallit on his shoulders - a special Jewish prayer garment in the form of a large striped veil. Netanyahu recalled that he had been to the Western Wall ten days earlier - before the start of the Israeli operation against Iran. Then he also left a note there with the words: “Behold, the people will rise like a lion“. This quote from the biblical text became the basis for the name of the entire operation.
„Today I am in the same place and I put a new note: „Behold, the people rose up like a lion.“ The people of Israel are alive! We will continue to do wonders and great deeds to ensure the eternity of Israel for generations. I am proud of our people!“ said Netanyahu.
The Western Wall is the only surviving fragment of the temple complex in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The Jerusalem Temple was the main sanctuary of the Jews and after its destruction the wall became one of the main places of worship. It is customary for worshippers to leave notes with prayers and appeals to God in the cracks between the stone blocks.
The quote mentioned by Netanyahu is taken from the Book of Bamidbar, the fourth in the Jewish Torah. In the Christian canon, it corresponds to the Old Testament Book of Numbers and is part of the Pentateuch of Moses. This phrase is a fragment of the prophecy of Balaam, which was delivered by the Moabite king Balak, who wanted to stop the advance of the Jews into the lands of Canaan. To this end, Balak turned to the soothsayer with a request to curse the people of Israel, but God appeared to Balaam in his dreams again and again, but instead of curses, He put blessings for the Jews and predictions of their victory over their enemies into his mouth.
Netanyahu quotes one of them, it reads like this in full: “Behold, the people rise up like a lioness, and lift themselves up like a lion; they will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.“