Beepers, shmeepers: Israel had even better surprises for Iran, envoy to US says

Israel still has “some surprises up our sleeves” in the fight against Iran, ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter says.

“There’s still a lot of things we can do,” Leiter tells Merit TV.

The full extent of Israel’s opening blows against Iran late last week has not yet been uncovered, he says: “We’ve pulled off a number of surprises — when the dust settles — you’re going to see some surprises on [last] Thursday night and Friday, that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple.”

Israel detonated thousands of Hezbollah beepers and walkie-talkies in September, injuring thousands of fighters in a complex intelligence effort that went back years.

Israel revealed some of the Mossad operations employed on the first night of its attack on Iran, including a drone base it built on Iranian soil.

‘We’re progressing ahead of schedule.’ Israel’s Ambassador (@yechielleiter) tells @LyndsayMKeith that the ultimate goal is to ‘demolish all nuclear weapon facilities in Iran.’ On Merit TV. pic.twitter.com/ILvmmRIt72

— Merit Street (@MeritStreet) June 17, 2025

Leiter blames European leaders for making the same mistakes the world made in refusing to confront Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

“This is the war to end wars,” he says of Israel’s bombing of Iran. “This is the war to engender peace in the Middle East.”

US President Donald Trump is not putting pressure on Israel to stop the fighting, says Leiter.

Israel is open to a negotiated end to the fighting with Iran, but it must include the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, he says.