Iran once mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him "the boy who cried wolf!" because of his constant public warnings about Iran's nuclear program and repeated threats to stop it - one way or another.
"You can only fool some people, and only a limited number of times," said then-Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in 2018, after Netanyahu again accused Iran of planning to build nuclear weapons.
On Friday, after two decades of continuous warnings and calls for world leaders to act, Netanyahu finally decided to go it alone, authorizing an Israeli air strike that Israel claims is aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, Reuters writes in an analysis.
In an address to the nation, Netanyahu – as he has many times before – invoked the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust during World War II to explain his decision.
"Almost a century ago, faced with the Nazis, the leaders of the time did not react in time," Netanyahu said, adding that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's appeasement policy led to the deaths of six million Jews, "a third of my people."
"After that war, the Jewish people and the Jewish state vowed: never again. Well, that never again is now – today. Israel has shown that we have learned the lessons of history."
Iran insists its nuclear energy program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, although the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday, for the first time in nearly 20 years, found the country guilty of violating obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Netanyahu, a former member of an elite special forces unit that carried out some of Israel's most daring hostage rescue operations, has dominated Israeli politics for decades and became the longest-serving prime minister when he won an unprecedented sixth term in 2022, Reuters reports.
Throughout his terms, he rarely missed an opportunity to warn foreign leaders of the danger posed by Iran, displaying drawings of an atomic bomb at the United Nations and constantly hinting that he was ready to strike.
In earlier terms, military analysts argued that his room for maneuver was limited by fears that an attack would provoke immediate retaliation from Iran's regional allies – Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – which would be difficult to contain.
Upheaval in the Middle East
But the last two years have turned the tide in the Middle East – Israel destroyed Hamas after a massive surprise attack by the group in October 2023, and then, in just a few days in 2024, defeated most of Hezbollah.
Israel has been openly clashing with Tehran since 2024, firing missile salvos deep into Iran, which is believed to have increased Netanyahu's confidence in Israel's military reach.
Israeli military sources claim the strikes disabled four Russian air defense systems in Iran, including one near Natanz, a key Iranian nuclear facility that was targeted, according to Iranian television.
"Iran is now more exposed than ever to attacks on its nuclear facilities. We have an opportunity to achieve our most important goal – to prevent and eliminate an existential threat," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in November.
Netanyahu betrayed by Trump
Much to Netanyahu's disappointment, US President-elect Donald Trump surprised him during a visit to the White House in April when he announced that the United States and Iran would soon begin direct negotiations on the nuclear issue.
Netanyahu has clashed with a series of US presidents over Iran, most notably Barack Obama, who in 2015 signed a deal with Tehran that imposed significant restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and Netanyahu expected him to continue to take a tough stance on Iran as president.
The White House set a two-month deadline for Iran to sign a new deal in April. Although a new round of talks is scheduled for this weekend, the informal deadline expired on Thursday – and Netanyahu reacted.
An Israeli official told state broadcaster Kan that Israel coordinated with Washington ahead of the attack, and suggested that recent media reports of a rift between Trump and Netanyahu were a "hoax" to lull the Iranian leadership into a false sense of security.
Damaged image
Trump - who said after the attack began that Iran must not have a nuclear bomb but wanted negotiations to continue - had previously praised the right-wing Netanyahu as a great friend. Other world leaders have had more trouble with him.
Back in 2015, then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy was caught saying during an informal conversation with Obama: "I can't stand him anymore, he's a liar."
The man his supporters called "King Bibi" is going through difficult years, and at 75, time is running out for him to secure his political legacy, writes Reuters.
His belligerent reputation was seriously damaged by the 2023 Hamas attack, with polls showing that a majority of Israelis hold him responsible for the security lapses that enabled the deadliest attack since the founding of the Israeli state.
He has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes during the 20-month invasion of Gaza, which reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble. He denies all charges.
Polls show that most Israelis believe the war in Gaza has been going on for too long, and that Netanyahu is prolonging the conflict in order to stay in power and avoid elections that, according to polls, he would lose.
Even as the war on multiple fronts rages, he has had to appear in court in his multi-year corruption trial, in which he denies any guilt, further tarnishing his image in the country.
Still, he hopes that a successful military campaign against Israel's archenemy will secure his place in the history books he loves so much.
"Generations to come will record that our generation stood firm, acted in time, and secured a common future. May God bless Israel. May God bless the forces of civilization, everywhere," he said in a speech Friday.
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