Politicians, Jewish leaders respond to Operation Rising Lion

Elected representatives and local leaders were quick to react to Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile bases, military commanders and nuclear scientists.

With the launch of Operation Rising Lion on June 13, three of Iran’s top figures were killed —Major General Hossein Salami, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Core Commander; nuclear physicist and university head Mohammad Mehdi; and Fereydoon Abbasi, former nuclear program chief.

The operation included dozens of locations across Iran, inflicting severe damage to key nuclear sites and military installations.

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Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, among other locations across Israel. As of press time, Iran had launched some 350 ballistic missiles, the vast majority of which were intercepted, according to IDF statistics released Monday.

In all, 24 Israelis had been killed in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks as of press time.

Shortly after Operation Rising Lion began, Pennsylvania’s Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X:

“Our commitment to Israel must be absolute and I fully support this attack. Keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel. We must provide whatever is necessary—military, intelligence, weaponry—to fully back Israel in striking Iran.”

In April Fetterman, a staunch supporter of Israel, told the Washington Free Beacon that he didn’t think negotiations with Iran would work, saying that the Islamic Republic “has been destabilizing the region for decades.”

“We have an incredible window, I believe, to do that, to strike and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities,” he said.

After the launch of Operation Rising Lion, Fetterman told Jewish Insider that he was shocked by the response of some of his Democratic colleagues.

“It was just astonishing to see colleagues criticizing these things. It’s like, do you think you can negotiate with that regime? Do you think you want to run that scenario and allow them to acquire 1,000 pounds of weapons grade uranium? I can’t understand, I can’t even begin to understand that,” he told JI.

In the same interview, Fetterman pointed to Iran’s support of terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis.
Fetterman told JI that Israel’s ability to target specific people was “remarkable.”

“It’s like Beepers 2.0,” he said, referencing an Israeli operation that sold Hezbollah beepers containing explosives, which were detonated in Syria and Lebanon on Sept. 17 and 18.

Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick also issued statements supporting Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iran, saying both he and his wife, Dina, were praying for the success of Israel’s mission, “to thwart the world’s largest state sponsor of terror and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

Iran, he said, has been a destabilizing threat to security in the Middle East, Persian Gulf and around the world and “has the blood of Americans on its hands.”

“Preventing Iran from having a nuclear bomb is in the interest of the civilized world. I am grateful to President Trump and his team for trying to achieve this peacefully. But just this week the International Atomic Energy Agency voted overwhelmingly that Iran was not in compliance with its obligations. So Israel has decided to act and I stand with Israel,” McCormick said.

U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, the Republican representative of Pennsylvania’s 14th district — which includes all of Fayette, Green and Washington counties and most of Indiana, Westmoreland and Somerset counties — noted on X that President Donald Trump gave Iran a 60-day window to end its nuclear weapons program.

“I fully support Israel’s successful operation and their right to self-defense against the Iranian regime and their proxies,” he wrote.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Pennsylvania’s 12th district, which includes Squirrel Hill, has been a vocal critic of Israel even before the Jewish state was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. She has supported several pieces of legislation intended to diminish U.S. support of Israel, including bills to end the provision of defensive military systems. On X, Lee wrote, “Israel has once again bombed Iran, a dangerous & reckless escalation.”

“The war criminal Netanyahu wants to ignite an endless regional war & drag the US into it,” Lee’s post read. “Any politician who tries to help him betrays us all. The American people do not want this.”

Adam Forgie, the Democratic mayor of Turtle Creek, who will be challenging Lee in the next primary, told the Chronicle that Israel has a right to defend itself and said its strikes against Iran showed its commitment to do so.

“Iran and their support of Hamas has brought this action upon themselves and their people,” Forgie said. “That region, and the world for that matter, cannot afford a nuclear armed Iran who supports terrorist regimes.”

In a Facebook post immediately following news of the operation, Julie Paris, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic regional director, called Israel a “nation of heroes.”

“The IDF’s daring and heroic operation against the Iranian regime and its nuclear capabilities continues, but one thing is clear: we are living through history, and I have no doubt that one day, history books will teach how on this day, Israel made the world safer with its incredible intelligence capabilities, cutting-edge military strength, and determination to survive. Gd willing, the Iranian people will soon be free from the clutches of nearly 50 years of oppression and violence,” Paris wrote.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh posted on social media that it stood “in unwavering solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel,” and that it prayed for “their immediate safety, strength and well-being and for the protection of future generations to come as Israel defends itself from Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and other threats posed by the Iranian regime.”

Jeff Finkelstein, Federation’s president and CEO, said that the organization was working to ensure there were no local threats in response to the operation and that “our security apparatus is not only functioning, but people know what to do,” he said.

Federation, Finkelstein noted, had already been in touch with all the local Jewish organizations and congregations and had reached out to “families of any of the young people on Federation-sponsored programs right now in Israel to make sure everyone is OK.”

Those now in Israel, he said, include individuals on a national LGBTQ+ mission, as well as those on Birthright trips.

And while Finkelstein said there may be some uncertainty about the full details of Israel’s mission and Iran’s response, one thing, he said, is sure:

“I believe any country has a right to defend itself and her citizens. That is what Israel appears to have done with their incredibly sophisticated attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leadership.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.