"We saw with our own eyes the fires of Iran's nuclear bases": Hatzerim commander 

Two days after the end of Operation Rising Lion and the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, the commander of the Hatzerim Air Base gave a rare and candid account of the dramatic airstrikes that targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

"In the cockpit, we could see the nuclear facilities below as we bombed them," the commander told Kan Reshet Bet. "We saw missile sites, flames, and plumes of smoke rising from every target hit. It was clear: we left our mark."

The operation, which saw Israel’s fighter jets launch from multiple bases and converge mid-air, was both unifying and tense for the pilots involved.

“You hear the voices of your fellow pilots as the squadron forms in the sky, and you feel - no one can stop us,” he said. “Once over Iran, silence falls in the cockpit. Everyone's braced for surprises. But sometimes there's small talk, especially on the way home. The view is incredible.”

Describing the surreal journey home, he added: “You fly over Iraq and Syria, enemy territory, and it feels like something out of history. We passed over Baghdad, crossed the Tigris and Euphrates. My navigator said, ‘Abraham began his journey here.’ Then you joke about stopping for hummus in Damascus; it’s a release of tension, and maybe a yearning for a different Middle East.”

But the most powerful moment, he said, came at the very end.

“After crossing countries that stretch for hours, seeing Haifa and Jerusalem, so small, so familiar, it's breathtaking. You realize what you’re protecting.”