Early this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a mock wartime meeting of his security cabinet in a bunker. The communities in northern Israel are preparing shelters for a long-term conflict. And the military is working overtime on a new laser system to intercept rockets.

Their focus is Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

For years, Israel has considered a nuclear-armed Iran to be an existential threat, and directed its energies to confronting it and its regional proxies in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian areas.

But much is new in the past few months. Iran has emerged from diplomatic isolation, forging a key military alliance with Russia from which it’s seeking air defenses, restoring diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia and pushing its allies to fire missiles at Israel. It is also enriching more and more uranium, including a small amount almost to weapons grade — while denying any plans for making a bomb.

All of these developments, along with a political crisis in Israel triggered by Netanyahu’s attempt to overhaul the judiciary, have pushed the government in Jerusalem into a position from which it’s issuing daily warnings and letting everyone know that it would not hesitate to act, even alone, if it felt enough of a threat from Iran.

Don’t Wait

Those who know the country say that while there is an element of public posturing, there is also serious intent.

“Iran is hardening its defenses, meaning Israel could lose the option to attack,” said Dennis Ross, a former White House Middle East envoy. “As someone who has worked on this issue and talked to the Israelis for a long time, the one thing I am personally convinced of is they will never allow themselves to lose the option. You don’t wait until it is one minute to midnight.”

Israeli officials cite the topic wherever they go. Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy minister, told Bloomberg TV in New York recently, “Iran threatens the world. They want to create a bomb in order to use it. We’re maybe first in line, but we’re not the only one.”

But Israel’s ability to deliver a decisive blow is questionable, especially if it acted alone and not alongside the US, which says it wants a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program. Washington and Tehran denied recent reports that they’ve been quietly exploring a new nuclear deal, though Iran said this week the two are close to an agreement on prisoner swaps.

Netanyahu rejects the US stance toward Iran, telling Sky News that “diplomacy can only work if it’s coupled with a credible military threat.”

Read more on the original:

https://time.com/6286783/israel-iran-military-preparations/