“AM K’LAVI”: Netanyahu Placed Kvittel in Kosel on Eve of Iran Strike, Echoed in Operation’s Name

Just one day before Israel launched its dramatic military operation against Iranian nuclear targets, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a quiet, symbolic visit to the Kosel, where he inserted a handwritten note into the ancient stones bearing the words:
“עם כלביא יקום וכארי יתנשא”
“He shall rise like a lion and lift himself up like a king of beasts.”

The posuk is found in Parshas Balak (Bamidbar 23:24)

Less than 24 hours later, Israel unveiled the name of its coordinated assault on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure: Operation Rising Lion — עם כלביא.

Israeli officials confirmed that the posuk served as the inspiration for the name of the operation.

In the aforementioned posuk, Bilam foretold that the Bnei Yisroel would begin its conquest of the Land of Eretz Yisroel and, like a young lion matruing to full strength, grow ever more powerful. It would not finish its work until it conquered and plundered all the Canaanite kings. [See more in ArtScroll’s Stone Chumash, page 868-869.]

The operation, which targeted key nuclear sites and Iranian military assets, was described by the IDF as a “preemptive strike” against an imminent existential threat.