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July 4, 2025 - Sean Hannity Show
31:32
Israel Strikes Back - July 3rd, Hour 1
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Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
This operation will continue for as many days as it takes.
Democracy is under assault before our eyes.
This moment we have feared has arrived.
And you compare them to those nondescript thugs.
It does look like a Gestapo operation.
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All right, hour to Sean Hannity Show, 800-941-Sean.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Fox with Special Report and Bret Bear being very, very clear that they launched this operation because Iran was rushing to weaponize enriched uranium.
We see, and you know, when I was, I keep going back to one of my trips to Israel, the small town, border town with Kazov, Starot is what it's called.
And they had, when I had gone back there, this is a long time ago, they had been hit with 10,000 missiles in 10 years, one little town.
How many missiles would it take to be fired into the U.S. before you would want your government to do something?
Anyway, here's why he says he launched this operation.
Why did you launch this operation now?
Because we were facing an imminent threat, a dual existential threat.
One, the threat of Iran rushing to weaponize their enriched uranium to make atomic bombs with a specific and declared intent to destroy us.
Second, a rush to increase their ballistic missile arsenal into the capacity that they would have 3,600 weapons a year, new weapons.
Within three years, 10,000 ballistic missiles, each one weighing a ton, coming in at Mach 6 right into our cities, as you saw today.
And then in 20, in six years, 20,000.
That's no country can sustain that, and certainly not a country the size of Israel.
So we had to act.
It was the 12th hour.
We did act to save ourselves, but also, I think, to not only protect ourselves, but protect the world from this incendiary regime.
We can't have the world's most dangerous regime have the world's most dangerous weapons.
We're protecting ourselves, but by doing so, we're protecting many others.
Now, the prime minister rightly has pointed out, yeah, they've got, you know, thousands, at least 2,000, according to reports, ballistic missiles.
We see them being fired.
The Iron Dome has done a great job, but it's not perfect in terms of stopping it.
But the production, I kind of view this as their increased production in ballistic missiles with the hope of doubling how lethal they are from 2,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds as plan B, because the Iranians, there are a lot of things.
They're evil for sure, but they're not stupid.
And they knew the likelihood of their nuclear program existing was diminishing by the day.
And I'll just quote President Trump.
For those people who say they want peace, you cannot have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon.
So for all those wonderful people who don't want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon, that's not peace.
I've often said that you don't define peace as the absence of conflict or the absence of war.
You define it as the ability to defend yourself.
And in this case, it's a preventative measure before you are literally the world would be held hostage by a nuclear-armed Iran.
But yes, it's very consistent with my ideology and my philosophy.
You can no longer have these forever wars.
There's not a single country in the Middle East that wants the Iranians with nuclear weapons.
And they have rained down through their proxies and themselves hundreds of thousands of missiles on Israel.
At what point does Israel have the right to say enough is enough?
How many missiles would it take fired into the United States before every American would demand, rightly so, that we neutralize any country that's involved.
Now, we are in a new era.
And I keep talking about the next generation of weaponry, and I keep talking about how future wars will be fought in air-conditioned offices and not on a battlefield.
And we see this unfolding in real time, which means that for those people that worry about, quote, the quagmire argument or forever war argument, well, the Israelis already own the skies over all of Iran.
This is a one-sided fight at this point.
Now, that doesn't mitigate the danger, the danger to our troops in the region.
That doesn't mitigate the other dangers associated with the ballistic missiles that they have, both short-range and long-range, and the lethality of all of that.
But what is it going to be like six months from now, a year from now, if they have the 10,000 weapons that the prime minister is talking about and maybe nuclear capability?
Anyway, Ambassador Nathan Sales is with us.
He served in the first Trump administration as ambassador at large for counterterrorism, acting under Secretary of State.
Is there anything I'm saying here that you disagree with?
Sean, it sounds like you're angling for an appointment at the State Department.
I'd love to have what you just said reflected among America's diplomatic corps.
I think you're spot on.
Iran is a threat, not just to Israel, not even just to the region.
They're a threat to the United States.
And that has to be the guiding star of U.S. policy over the next couple of weeks.
We're starting to see some of Israel's on-again, off-again friends in the West starting to waver.
There's some chatter as the G7 summit up in Canada kicks off today that the G7 might call for de-escalation.
And President Trump rightly has said, not signing that.
And good, because our policy should be help Israel do what it needs to do to finish the job with a minimum of henpecking and ankle biting from other countries in the West.
It's always been important for Israel to be able to neutralize the threat that Iran poses, but especially so now.
Got to finish the job because imagine how motivated Iran will be after this war ends to get a nuclear weapon because that's going to be their insurance policy.
So you can't leave any element of the nuclear program behind because the Iranians are going to take that seed and then grow it into a huge tree if given the opportunity.
So whether it's through military force or whether it's through tough diplomacy, this war needs to end with Iran completely disarmed.
Well, and look, it's an existential threat, not only to the region, but to the world.
And this, you know, a lot of people seem to have forgotten, but if you go back to April of 25 this year, you know, it's a little ironic.
President Trump is, you know, there was one report that he pulled the plug on Iran's supreme leader to take him out.
I'm not sure if I actually believe everything I read, but putting that aside, considering if you go back, you know, according to the Persian language article published by one of their local papers, Trump is out of line any day now in revenge for the bloody martyr Soleimani.
A few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his, and he'll be drinking from the chalice of a cursed death.
And so I'm not sure if I believe the report that he vetoed a plan to assassinate Iran's supreme leader.
Israeli airstrikes did target one of Iran's largest oil refineries.
I think that was a message that we can take out your entire ability to make money also, not just your nuclear sites, not your missile battery systems, which they've gotten about a third of.
There still is a threat to the region, and that includes American troops in the region.
I don't want people to think that this is a cakewalk because it's not.
But it's a matter of do you act now or do you risk what we as a world might be facing later?
And I'm not willing to take that risk for our children and grandchildren.
Well, that's exactly right, Sean.
For the past 20-plus years, Israel has lived with a sort of Damocles hanging over it.
And not just Israel, but the Saudis, the Bahrainis, the Emiratis, others in the Gulf, and ultimately the United States.
And that sort of Damocles is the risk that Iran will develop a nuclear weapon that it will use to hold the entire region hostage.
You know, they keep chanting death to America.
They've been chanting that since the revolution back in 1979.
We don't want to find out if it's just rhetoric.
We have to assume that they mean it when they say it.
And from that realization follows a really important point.
They can never have, the world's most dangerous regime can never have the world's most dangerous weapon.
And that's the only reason they could have a nuclear enrichment program.
They've enriched, so far, up to 60% purity.
Nobody who has a peaceful nuclear power program needs that kind of concentration of uranium.
The only reason you could have that is because you want to preserve a pathway to a bomb.
And so when the mullahs sit down at the negotiating table and say, well, we just want a peaceful program for power purposes or they were offered that in negotiations.
I know that for a fact.
They were offered.
They could have the enriched rods for a peaceful power nuclear program, which it's nowhere near 60%.
But when they're enriching the uranium and they don't have anywhere, any place, anytime, American inspectors, we know that they've always been further along in their program than is publicly known.
And we see how they terrorize the entire region.
You know what's surprising to me is like, I'm like, you know, but break this down to a very simple equation.
How many missiles would have to be fired into an American town or city by a foreign entity before you'd want America to react?
You know, how many times does a neighbor have to punch you in the face and break your windows and attack your house before you're going to want to retaliate?
And it's really that simple.
Does Sean Hannity want a forever war?
Absolutely not.
Do I want this specific threat with this evil regime that has shown a willingness to attack innocent men, women, and children repeatedly and fund proxy wars ended?
And I want that threat removed for the safety of our children and grandchildren?
100%.
Don't apologize at all.
A standby.
I think the president has been right the whole time.
Yeah, and, you know, how much risk would the United States be willing to accept?
And I think the answer is not nearly as much as Israel has already had to accept.
And this is an important point for your audience to understand.
This isn't just Israel versus Iran.
This is the civilized world against Iran, because Iran really is a threat to all of us.
You know, a lot of people remember that the Iranians killed 600 or more American soldiers on the ground in Iraq.
They've also been plotting assassinations right here on American soil.
They're trying to kill President Trump, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and others.
They tried to blow up an Italian restaurant in Georgetown a number of years ago to kill the Saudi ambassador.
And imagine the collateral damage that would have involved.
So now imagine that regime with a nuclear weapon.
And you have to see why President Trump is so firmly and resolutely behind Israel's efforts to disarm this regime.
We can't afford that risk any more than Israel can.
No, I totally agree.
All right, quick break.
We'll come back more with Ambassador Nathan Sales.
He served in the first Trump administration as Ambassador-at-Large for counterterrorism and acting under Secretary of State.
We'll get to your calls also on the other side, 800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
We continue now.
Ambassador Nathan Sales with us served in the first Trump administration as an ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism, acting under Secretary of State.
At this point, it seems that there is one reactor left and that the Israelis have two options, either to use American bunker buster bombs, because it's buried, my understanding is miles underground, or a tactical nuke.
I would prefer the bunker busters, but that's going to be between the president and Israel, and they're going to ultimately make that decision.
But I don't think it can remain at all.
Yeah, this is the Fordow plant, and it's the hardest target that the Iranians have.
It's buried under about a half mile of mountain, and it's really, really difficult to get it unless you have a bunker buster bomb, which the United States has and which we have a platform for delivering it, namely the B-2.
So I think there's probably some very serious conversations going on right now about whether the United States will provide those capabilities to Israel or whether the United States will join the fight ourselves.
I don't know where the president is on this, but this is a question that bears watching very closely because we can't afford to eliminate a couple of nuclear sites here and there, but leave Fordow intact.
If Fordow survives, the Iranian regime's nuclear program survives, and that's a loss for Israel and a loss for us.
I think that's well said, and I don't think that's a risk.
If you've come this far and we're at the end of the process and you own the skies, they've not been able to build back their missile defense system.
You know, the only risk we now have, and it is a real risk, and anytime you're involved in any military effort, I don't want to mitigate that risk.
I don't want people to put their guard down.
There is a risk and a risk to American lives.
They've already killed many Americans in the past, and they do chant death to Israel, death to America, and they've threatened to hit the continental U.S. with missiles also.
But it's either you deal with it now when they're weakened and finished the job, or you run the risk that they would empower themselves and build up their military might even further.
Yeah, I think the lesson the Iranians are going to take from this war is we're a lot weaker than we thought we were.
Israel has the ability to hurt us a lot more than we thought they did.
So how do we protect ourselves from that?
What I think and what I fear is the lesson they're going to draw is we need a nuclear bomb now more than ever.
And so if you give the regime that ability without destroying their program completely, my fear is they're going to race harder than ever.
Appreciate you being with us.
Thank you, Ambassador Nathan Sales, 800-941 Sean is on number if you want to be a part of the program.
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In a minute, we're going to head to the ground with a bird's eye view of what's been happening to Tel Aviv.
Amazing to watch.
The majority of Democrats are siding with the radical, virulent squad as represented by Congresswoman Omar.
Listen to her comments.
To be coming out of our country.
I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don't even remember ever witnessing anything like that.
To have a democracy, a peak of hope for the world to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights, while our president is spending millions of dollars prompting himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade.
It is really shocking, and it should be a wake-up call for all Americans to say this is not the country we were born in.
This is not the country we believe in.
This is not the country our founding fathers imagined.
And this is not the country that is supported by our constitution, our ideals, our values.
And we should all collectively be out in the streets rejecting what is taking place this week.
That is Congresswoman Omar.
That is the virulent and anti-Semitic wing of the Democratic Party.
And those that are not a part of it, their silence has been deafening.
The only voice that has been outspoken in support of Israel has been Pennsylvania Senator Democrat John Fetterman.
Here's what he has said.
Now, you say show no mercy, and if you have to take the Supreme Leader out, do it.
Explain your position now, sir.
Yeah, 100%.
Yeah, I think they should have targeted him.
Absolutely taken him out.
I think the way Israel operates, they just take out the leadership just like they did with Hezbollah.
And they've already done that with the Iranian leadership, just took them out, even laying in their beds, and they didn't take down the whole building.
They actually targeted where they lay in bed.
And now they eliminated the military ones and the nuclear ones.
That's magnificent.
And the precision which they've done that.
And I don't know why they would have left the leader out.
All right, joining us now is Roy Katz.
He is a journalist, TV, and radio host in Israel.
He's been in Tel Aviv as they have been witnessing and living through an onslaught of Iranian ballistic missiles.
We became friendly with Roy when we were in Israel a couple of times.
We broadcast from FM 102 out of Tel Aviv.
And more importantly, they actually facilitated my ability from the United States to host a separate radio show, separate and apart from this one, just for the people in Israel.
And Roy has been on the ground from day one, and he has been pointing out the Iranian stock exchange has been suspended.
In Israel, on the other hand, the stock exchange continues to operate.
And the profound differences between the Israeli economy and that of the Iranian economy.
The most amazing thing with Israel controlling the skies over the entire landmass of Iran.
Anyway, Roy, great to have you back.
I wish under better circumstances, our prayers are with you and the people of Israel.
But this is a fight that has been a long time coming.
I've been asking people on this radio show, how many missiles would it take fired into the United States at any small town or big city by an enemy, an outside adversary, before you would expect your military to fiercely defend your country and win that conflict and win that war.
Now, since the times I've been through Israel, there have been hundreds of thousands of missiles that have been fired into Israel.
And of course, what happened on October 7th.
So this has been a long time coming.
They have been fomenting terror.
Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthi rebels.
Then you have the Syria militia, the Iraqi militia, and now firing ballistic missiles for the third time themselves.
How are things on the ground?
Well, first of all, thank you, Sean.
It is great to talk with you again.
I appreciate you giving me this platform to share the reality of what's happening in Tel Aviv and across Israel.
You know, Israeli families are becoming just experts in sprinting to underground shelters in their pajamas.
It's evening here in Tel Aviv.
This is really our new normal for the last couple of days.
Israeli kids are, you know, they're learning to count.
Sirens, they mean 90 seconds to shelter.
Now, no child should have that kind of mass homeworks and, you know, civilians killed by ballistic missiles in their own neighborhoods.
And this is what happens when a terrorist regime targets civilian areas, you know, instead of military sites.
And that's a regime that openly calls for wiping Israel off the map while building nuclear weapons.
And that isn't seeking peace.
They are preparing genocide for us.
And it's, yeah, it's quite scary, I must admit.
Well, the people of Israel are resilient.
Thank God.
I mean, unfortunately, Israel has had to build out a bunker system that has prevented a far greater loss of life.
The Israelis now have taken out two of the three big nuclear sites inside of Iran.
Now there is a debate whether or not there'll be a joint operation between the United States and Israel.
And the U.S. would provide the bunker buster bombs and probably the B-52s to take that last facility out.
The president has been steadfast.
He has been unambiguous.
He has been clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
And so at the end of this process, at a minimum, the Iranians won't have a nuclear weapon.
Now, at that point, probably the United States' role will be defending their troops in the region, their interest in the region, helping Israel defend against any missile attacks, which we've been doing and will continue to do.
But then the Israelis are going to have to make a choice.
They could wipe out their entire gas electric grid.
That's separate and apart from their refineries.
No electric power and no source of income would absolutely devastate the regime.
Your thoughts.
Now, Sean, I heard your monologue the other day saying Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, period.
And that's the end of the sentence.
Now, the U.S. has the bunker-busting bombs that can reach Iran's deep underground nuclear facilities.
And Israel needs American firepower to finish this job, I think.
And I want to say one more thing.
I think America's choice is quite simple because helping Israel destroy Iran's nuclear program now or facing a nuclear-armed Iran threatening American cities later.
Now, every day America waits to join this fight is another day.
I think Iran is getting closer to putting nuclear warheads on missiles aimed at New York City.
Now, I know there is a big argument in the States.
I know there is a big argument, even in the big.
The poll came out today by two of our favorite pollsters.
They nailed the 2016, 2020, and 2024 election.
And it was overwhelming and it was incontrovertible that the question was: what is your opinion of President Trump's position that Iran must be prevented from developing a nuclear weapon by any means necessary?
74% to 23% favor the president taking that side out.
The president, clearly, by warning Tehran and the citizens of Tehran to get out, I think is sending a clear message.
A lot like Israel, we care about human life, unlike the Iranians.
But it seems imminent to me.
I'm happy to hear it.
I mean, what we see on media is an argument between both parties in the States and within the GOP.
But I'm happy to hear your answer.
Now, when we're talking politics, I want to mention one more thing.
You know, when I see Israel's harshest opposition leaders stand with the government on this war, you know that the threat is real.
You know, politics stops at survival, and our opposition parties fight the government, fight Netanyahu on everything, but except when it comes to preventing a second Holocaust.
Now, left-wing politicians who've spent years criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu are now saying we support this operation.
And that tells you, and that tells the audience everything about Iran's danger because opposition leaders are in Israel, are telling their supporters we'll resume fighting Netanyahu after we finish fighting Iran's nuclear program.
And that tells a lot because, you know, in a democracy where politicians argue about everything, we see here in Israel almost unanimous support for this operation.
And that speaks louder, I think, than any intelligence briefing.
All right, quick break.
We'll come back more with Roy Katz.
He's a friend of ours, journalist, TV, radio host.
We continue now.
Roy Katz is a friend of the program.
He's a journalist, TV, radio host.
He's in Tel Aviv.
We continue with Roy Katz now.
What is it like when the sirens are going off and people are rushing down into underground bunkers?
And you see the incredible success.
The IDF says they're about 95% successful in preventing these ballistic missiles that are more powerful than ever, which I think needs to be pointed out, that they have been building up.
I call it their plan B, which is to try and overwhelm the iron dome that Israel has used so successfully over the years.
But yet 5% of those missiles are hitting some targets.
The death toll is much, much lower than it would otherwise be had Israel not been always preparing for this inevitable moment, knowing the hostilities that surround it.
But many, many lives have been saved because the Israelis have rightly prepared for what was obviously becoming an inevitable conflict, on top of the fact that I think it's one of the most incredible military operations.
Going back to the Pager incident, going back to taking out the top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and Azra, and then getting deep inside, penetrating within the territories of Iran with the Mossad and having these drones take out the scientists and military leaders and other sites.
I mean, it has been spectacular to watch.
I would argue, Roy, that this is going to be studied for the next 200 years.
Oh, I totally agree with that.
And we started at a very low point.
On October 7th, the incursion by Hamas, they slaughter us in beds, raped women, and killed children.
A year and nine months later, we control the air over Tehran.
It's significant.
It's significant.
I want to share with you, you know, when the sirens goes off here two, three times at night, I admit it's scary.
You know, I grab my kid.
I grab my wife.
We have 90 minutes to go into the bomb shelter.
I'm not going to lie to you, Sean.
It is scary.
But we know, we know that we are not fighting for territory.
We are not fighting for resources.
We are fighting against a regime that has made our destruction their religious mission.
And, you know, the choice for us is quite simple.
You know, stop the nuclear weapons program now or explain to future generations, not only in Israel, not only in Israel, why we let these genocidal terrorists get the A-bomb.
Well, they can't and they won't.
And, you know, the world will, you know, in the 80s, when Israel took out the Iraqi sites, there was worldwide condemnation.
They did, you did the world a favor.
When they took out Syrian sites that got very little fanfare and they flew below their radar detection systems, it was an incredible military operation.
What is going on here is a necessity.
And the difference now is there's an American president that has the moral clarity to understand that Iran can never have nuclear weapons and they won't have nuclear weapons.
And that will prevent the possibility of a modern-day Holocaust.
That is as simple, basic, fundamental common sense as you can ever expect.
Roy, our prayers are with you.
Our prayers are with the people of Israel, the prime minister, and Godspeed in your mission.
This is going to be, the world will be a safer place as a result of all of this.
And although no mission is without risk, and we pray for everyone's safety.
Thanks for having me, Sean.
Thank you.
And hope to see you soon back here in Tel Aviv.
I appreciate you.
Well, I want to go to Tel Aviv because they have the best view of the Mediterranean and they also have some of the best food.
So that's where I like to eat.
We miss you, Sean.
Please come back.
Thank you so much.
All right, my friend.
God bless you.
Roy Katz, journalist, TV, radio host from Tel Aviv.
This is the reality that they live every day.
We'll get to your calls when we come back.
Our toll-free telephone number is 800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
Hey, there's still a lot more ahead on the best of the Sean Hannity Show.
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