Photo by Amos Ben Gershom, GPO
PM Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea Awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Mossad Operations
Netanyahu and Mossad chief Barnea salute daring missions, highlighting Rising Lion, Iran operations, and Israel’s intelligence strength.
Date: 18.09.2025
Last night, beneath low lights and the hush of people who know how to keep secrets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea joined Mossad operatives, commanders and partners from the wider intelligence and security community to present the Prime Minister’s Prize for Mossad operations, 2023–2024, and to raise a toast before the Jewish New Year.
The Prime Minister’s Prize recognizes pioneering, inspirational operations whose contribution to the security of the State of Israel was exceptional. The operations honored are only the visible edge of the Mossad’s relentless work over the past two years — the quiet, risky, technical and human efforts that meet threats head-on and preserve Israel’s intelligence and technological edge.
On the Iran operation, the Prime Minister spoke plainly: “This operation was done with great efforts, one of which was very great. I decided to call it ‘Operation Rising Lion.’ Why a lion? Because the people rose up. The entire people rose up.”
He continued: “We also spoke here about Haniyeh — it was not a simple operation. And Nasrallah? Not a simple operation either, nor was it obvious how it would unfold. You have pagers here? And the pagers. Of course, I knew it was not the pagers but the people, the work. This was the first large-scale targeted counter-terrorist operation in history.
“Over the years, I’ve told you what matters most: the existential threat from Iran’s intent and its drive to arm itself with nuclear weapons. We were forced to act immediately — had we not, within a year that threat would have been over our heads and could have beheaded the country. You played a major role in preventing that moment. Much of the operation was carried out by the Mossad. I came here to tell you I am convinced that the people of Israel — this lion people — have the strength, spirit, creativity, heroism, daring, and determination to secure our future, for us and for generations to come.”
Barnea turned the spotlight to the people who did the work: “Exactly one year and two hours ago, at 15:30, the Prime Minister gave the order to carry out the pagers operation, which was followed by plans for an IDF assault to defeat Nasrallah and erase the threat on our northern border. The elimination of Nasrallah and the Hezbollah leadership ten days later shattered whatever faint hopes they had left. The enemy’s spirit was broken.
“In the past year we saw another historic event — perhaps the greatest: Operation Rising Lion. Led by the IDF and executed in cooperation with the Mossad, we delivered a harsh and painful blow to an enemy that posed an existential threat to Israel. The Mossad worked for years, leveraging our unique advantages, carrying out a sequence of imaginative operations. The IDF, with its formidable capabilities and the Mossad at its side, shifted the balance in the war.
“We won, and we will continue to win.
“We proved Iran is penetrable, and we did not relent. The Mossad now has more imaginative action capabilities than before, greater reach inside Iran and even in the heart of Tehran. We demonstrated both our capabilities and what we are prepared to do to safeguard Israel. We will continue to build and strengthen our reach in Iran, to open our eyes on what is happening in their innermost rooms, and to prevent ideas and projects that threaten our security from taking root.
“Prime Minister, on behalf of the men and women of the Mossad, thank you for the backing you’ve given us to lead these imaginative operations. One needs vision and leadership — not only to guide but to approve. We will continue to act next year as well, in line with the Mossad vision: we will strive for excellence and turn vision into reality.”
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