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Israel should have seized Iran's uranium during Operation Roaring Lion, Gallant says

On June 10, 2026, The Jerusalem Post published Israel should have seized Iran's uranium during Operation Roaring Lion, Gallant says. The byline is 103FM. The speaker is Yoav Gallant, a former Israeli defense minister, in a radio interview. He said Israel and the United States should have taken Iran's enriched uranium by force during the campaign. An American family should care because he names the US Army, together with the Israeli army, as the force that should have gone in.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Israeli Leaders on a Ground War; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The Jerusalem Post reports a named former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, speaking on 103FM radio, and quotes him directly. The rating covers his reported words.

What the article says​

The paper says Gallant told 103FM that Israel should have used a different strategy against Iran's nuclear program during Operation Roaring Lion. He said Israel should have gone and brought the enriched uranium out by force, in a military operation during the campaign. He said that would have uprooted the nuclear program from Iran.

"The ability of the US Army together with the Israeli army existed, and that was something that should have been done."

Yoav Gallant, 103FM interview reported by The Jerusalem Post, June 10, 2026.

He said it is dangerous and could come at a price, but that it is a risk that must be taken for the security of the State of Israel. He called a plan to change the regime from the air, and through what he called questionable forces, a fantasy. He said effort spent on that fantasy wastes the only bullet in the magazine, endangers soldiers, and leaves missiles falling on Israel. He said the only goal that justifies war with Iran is stopping the nuclear program, and that this did not happen. The paper says he placed responsibility on the political leadership, meaning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for approving the wrong objectives. Asked if he would run in the coming elections, Gallant said no.

What other reporting adds​

An earlier trace of the same view. In March, a Reddit comment under a post about Israel ruling out its own ground troops claimed: "Yoav Gallant published an article saying the US should enter on the ground." No link was given, and the captures did not find such an article (research capture: twitter/t13__v154.md). Treat it as a lead. This June radio interview is the first place in the captures where Gallant is quoted by a news outlet naming the US Army.

Others who said the same. A month earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu told CBS's 60 Minutes the uranium "has to be taken out of Iran," and when asked how: "You go in, and you take it out." (CBS News transcript, 10 May 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md). Two days after Gallant spoke, CNN reported that a US ground mission to seize the uranium had been planned and then paused by Trump, quoting a source: "Essentially, we'd have to invade." (see US prepared urgent ground mission to seize Iran's uranium, but Trump blocked it).

What it shows​

A former Israeli defense minister named the force he wanted sent into Iran to seize the uranium: "the US Army together with the Israeli army." A month earlier Netanyahu had said of the uranium, "You go in, and you take it out." Two days after Gallant spoke, CNN reported that a US ground mission to seize the uranium had been prepared and then paused, with a source saying "Essentially, we'd have to invade." Israeli leaders set the ground objective; the Pentagon drew up the American mission to carry it out. See Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid and Israeli Leaders on a Ground War.

Check it yourself​

Status: Yoav Gallant is alive. Benjamin Netanyahu is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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