The Twelve Day War began on the night of June 12-13, 2025, with an attack by Israeli fighter jets and special forces on the Iranian regime's nuclear program and missile defense system. The name's resemblance to the Six-Day War is not accidental.
A commentary by Josias Terschüren
In the biblical Book of Esther, we read of a plot by the notorious anti-Semite Haman to annihilate the Jewish people. The Amalekite, as the second most powerful man in the Persian Empire, set a date on which all Jews throughout the empire, then a world power, were to be killed. Shortly before this day, the Persian king, Ahasuerus, was reminded that the Jew Mordecai had previously saved his life with intelligence. He exalted Mordecai and humiliated Haman. But that wasn't all: Queen Esther, who had concealed her Jewish heritage, exposed Haman's plot against her people and obtained a death sentence from the king. Following a further decree from the king, Jews everywhere were permitted to defend their lives and overcome their enemies on the day of their planned extermination.
The Iranian regime, too, had set a date for the annihilation of the Jews. In Tehran, it even erected a large digital clock in Palestine Square, counting down to the destruction of Israel. According to a prophecy by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there would be no Israel by 2040. Ten years after this announcement, an Israeli missile destroyed the clock. The countdown to nuclear holocaust has since been temporarily halted. As Haman's wife and friends once said to him: "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish race, you can do nothing against him; you will utterly fall before him." (Esther 6:13)
Seven Wonders of the 2025 Israel-Iran War
The Iran-Iraq War shook the world – not only because of its scale, but also because of the incredible developments that astonished experts and observers alike. The following analysis focuses on seven “miracles” that occurred during the Twelve Days of War. They mark turning points that influenced the course of the war in Israel’s favor and altered global political dynamics. Specifically, these are the seven remarkable events:
1. That the war even started
Israel has viewed the Iranian nuclear program with suspicion for decades and has combated it using intelligence, military, political, and diplomatic means. Reports indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities as early as 2010 and 2011, but was prevented from doing so by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and his own ministers. In 2012, his plans were thwarted by deliberate disclosures from the US administration under President Barack Obama.
After years of tension between Israel and Iran, particularly due to Tehran's nuclear buildup, proxy attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and military confrontations in Syria, events finally escalated rapidly following October 7, 2023. In April and October 2024, Iran launched ballistic missile attacks, and Israel, under pressure from the US administration of President Joe Biden, responded only with limited retaliatory strikes against non-nuclear targets. However, the October counterattack significantly weakened Israel's air defenses by specifically disabling Iranian radar systems.
With Donald Trump's second presidency in January 2025, a US president entered the White House who, much like Ahasuerus before him, empowered the Jews to defend themselves. For the first time, they were able to confront their enemies unhindered. The decades-long struggle for survival of the Jewish state against the annihilationist fantasies of the Ayatollahs culminated in a showdown. On June 13, 2025, open war with Iran began, much like the Six-Day War – with a surprise attack by the Israelis.
2. How he started – an absolute surprise
What the world only learned later was that the actual start of Operation "Rising Lion" was initiated by a highly complex collaboration between special forces, Mossad agents, and an Israeli drone strike. Similar to Ukraine's strike against the Russian strategic bomber fleet, Israel also deployed swarms of drones produced specifically in Iran. From their hiding places near military bases, these drones neutralized anti-aircraft positions and missile launch sites, thus thwarting direct Iranian counterattacks. Simultaneously, Israeli agents on Iranian soil destroyed further anti-aircraft positions with conventional attacks. As a result, an initial wave of 200 Israeli fighter jets was able to approach targets in Iran almost unimpeded.
3. Elimination of the military and scientific elite
A sensational success of the war was the precise elimination of the Iranian military leadership through Operation "Red Wedding," a reference to a scene in the series Game of Thrones in which several of the series' heroes are killed in quick succession. The highest-ranking military officers and Revolutionary Guard officers died within minutes during the opening offensive.
Simultaneously, in Operation Narnia, Israel eliminated nine top nuclear scientists in Tehran. Israel had also infiltrated the secret communication channels of the Revolutionary Guard and military, and convened an emergency conference of the Iranian Air Force to prepare a counterattack against the Zionist enemy, solely to eliminate the assembled generals with a targeted strike against the command bunker.
The surgical precision of these strikes decisively paralyzed Iranian military coordination – the leadership apparatus of the mullah regime was shattered before it could even take action. The regime was caught off guard. It took almost twelve hours for its first significant counterattack.
4. No fighter jet failures – a technological miracle
During Israel's 40-year desert trek in the Exodus, their shoes didn't wear out; during Operation Rising Lion, this miracle happened with Israeli fighter jets. Former Knesset member Dov Lipman shared the testimony of an Air Force technician on Facebook: The Israeli fighter jets, which had to travel up to 1,500 kilometers to their operational area, required absolutely no maintenance 70 percent of the time upon their return. This was despite the fact that the ground crews and technicians had anticipated the usual technical faults, problems, wear and tear, and even failures, and had prepared for them over months.
Yet only 30 percent of the aircraft required routine maintenance. Many of the planes, which had been used in active combat and pushed to their limits, returned in pristine condition—in fact, in such perfect condition as if they had just rolled out of the hangar for the first time. Leading Israeli engineers and commanders describe this as a "technological impossibility," stating that there is no technical explanation.
In addition, there is another major puzzle for military analysts: Not a single Israeli fighter jet was shot down or lost during the entire operation – despite thousands of sorties deep in Iranian airspace.
5. Few Israeli fatalities – the miracle of Soroka
Although Iran massively bombarded Israeli cities – with over 550 ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 combat drones – the number of casualties on the Israeli side remained surprisingly low. There were 29 deaths and approximately 3,300 injuries, of which around 140 were moderate to severe. The interception rate achieved by the Israelis, thanks to state-of-the-art systems and the assistance of allied forces, was nearly 100 percent for combat drones and about 86 percent for ballistic missiles. These interception maneuvers are costly; in total, Israelis and Americans fired interceptor missiles worth over one billion euros in self-defense alone. Nevertheless, there were repeated impacts of ballistic missiles in Israeli population centers, causing severe damage.
A symbol of miraculous sparing: the attack on Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. A rocket struck an adjacent building that had been evacuated the previous evening. Had it landed just 40 meters further, it would have cost the lives of hundreds of patients and medical staff. Instead: no fatalities, only a few dozen minor injuries from flying glass. Many have since referred to it as the "Miracle of Soroka.".
6. Support from the international community – Israel not alone
Contrary to many expectations and previous experiences since October 7, 2023, key nations of the international community surprisingly quickly sided with Israel. Criticism of Israel's actions against the Iranian nuclear program was remarkably mild compared to that of the Gaza war.
Just the day before the attack, the International Atomic Energy Agency had announced that Iran was violating its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Germany, France, and Great Britain supported Israel's right to self-defense. While the United Nations and the EU called for de-escalation, Israel did not face the diplomatic isolation it has often faced in the past.
7. The intervention of the USA – when the superpower emerged
At one of the war's decisive moments, the US actively intervened militarily. On June 22, Donald Trump gave the green light for Operation Midnight Hammer. Six B-2 stealth bombers attacked the underground nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow with a total of 14 GBU-57 bombs. The GBU-57 is the world's largest conventional bunker-buster bomb, developed by the US specifically for this scenario.
A small team of US military analysts had spent 15 years meticulously collecting and studying every detail about the nuclear facilities: site plans, ventilation shafts, excavations of the underground facilities, geological findings, satellite images, and so on, to prepare the plans for this attack. US submarines and up to 150 additional aircraft also participated in the attack. Trump's decision was not a foregone conclusion; he took geopolitical risks, had to explain himself domestically, and defend himself against accusations—after all, he had campaigned on a promise not to start any new wars.
Conclusion: Human strategy and divine miracles intertwine
As in the battle against Amalek in the time of Moses, this too required both: preparation, technology, military planning, and Israeli audacity on the one hand, and divine assistance from above on the other. One thing is certain: the Israeli-Iranian Twelve-Day War will go down in history as a turning point. Israel had prepared for this war for 20 years. And then came this perfectly orchestrated attack to disable the Iranian nuclear program and the mullah regime.
Israel has thwarted its enemies' plans, at least for now. The objectives of Operation "Rising Lion" have been achieved. The lion has risen. It has roared. And how! Once again, the work of the invisible hand of Israel's guardian could be seen. In these days, Israel has not only survived—it has once again made history.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 142. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
