From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Former coalition partners Bennett and Lapid urge Iranians to ‘rise up’ against their government
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The State of Israel is “now working to remove the cancerous growth called the Iranian nuclear program that threatens our existence,” former prime minister Naftali Bennett tells Channel 13 at the site of an Iranian rocket attack in the coastal city of Bat Yam.
When it comes to battling Iran, “there is no right, no left, no opposition and no coalition,” he says.
Switching to English, Bennett addresses the Iranian people, calling on them to “rise up against their government.”
“This war is not between Israel and the Iranian people. We appreciate and respect the Iranian people. This is about the regime,” which is “corrupt, and despised” by its citizens, he says. “This is your moment, rise up.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid echoes Bennett’s declaration that there are no political differences between Israelis when it comes to Iran.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one. The whole country is united in this moment, when faced with an enemy sworn to our destruction, nothing will divide us,” he writes in an English-language op-ed.
The Times of Israel Community.