Day 623 - How Israel stopped the bomb in 1981 and 2007

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus. Each Friday, join diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman and host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

Israel has experience in attempting to stop a nuclear weapons program. Twice before striking Iran on June 13, 2025, Israel attempted to thwart two neighboring nations' nascent nuclear programs.

This week on the Friday Focus, we’re talking about the covert surprise 1981 Operation Opera in Iraq and the 2007 Israeli airstrike on Syria, called Operation Outside the Box or Operation Orchard.

Berman fills us in on the back story of both, and weighs in on how successful they were — of course, with an eye to the current Israel-Iran war and Israel’s goal to stop Iran from reaching a nuclear bomb.

We learn how Operation Opera, also known as Operation Babylon, took place under prime minister Menachem Begin on June 7, 1981, at 16:00 when 14 fighter jets departed from Etzion (Efrat) Airport in Israel. At approximately 17:30, they struck and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, and within about 90 seconds of bombing, they successfully completed their mission.

Berman speaks about the resultant "Begin Doctrine," which, since 1981, guides Israel in how it reacts to imminent threats of weapons of mass destruction.

We then turn to the second preemptive strike that Israel carried out to stop the bomb in 2007, under prime minister Ehud Olmert. Ten Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-15 fighter jets, along with F-16 fighters and electronic-warfare aircraft, bombed a Syrian radar site and took over Syrian air defenses, feeding them a false picture of empty skies.

We discuss the overriding themes of both operations and compare them with what is currently happening in the Israel-Iran war.

Friday Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves and the video was edited by Thomas Girsch.

IMAGE: The IDF pilots who participated in the Operation Opera bombing of Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981. (Israel Defense Force archive)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Times of Israel's Friday Focus. I'm your host, Amanda Borsfeld-Dan, here with
0:06.0	diplomatic reporter, Laser Barman. Today is Friday, June 20th. Laser, thank you so much for
0:11.9	joining me again. Good to be here. We are going to tell a little bit of the back story behind the
0:17.2	news. And this week, while you and I were recording a daily briefing, you mentioned
0:21.7	something that caused my ears to prick up a bit, and that is the historic stop-the-bomb campaigns
0:29.4	that Israel, the IDF, has already carried out in the region. So I'm talking, of course,
0:35.3	about the 1981 campaign against Iraq and also the 2007 campaign
0:41.6	in Syria. So we're going to learn all about this and more when we're back.
0:54.0	Nothing has given me such delight as the proposal to establish a Hebrew university in Jerusalem.
0:59.7	More than a century has passed since Albert Einstein wrote this in his diary.
1:04.2	A century of cutting-edge research and innovation at Israel's leading academic institution
1:09.1	that Einstein, alongside many other luminaries,
1:12.7	helped establish.
1:14.0	Join me, Gilad Halpern,
1:15.5	for The View from Mount Scopus,
1:17.2	a podcast series
1:18.1	exploring the past,
1:19.6	present, and future
1:20.6	of the Hebrew University.
1:22.3	The View from Mount Scopus,
1:23.9	available wherever you get your podcasts.
1:35.0	The view from Mount Scopus. available wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Amanda Borchelle, Dan, here with our diplomatic reporter, Laser Bearman.
	...

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