WarSclerotic

IDF ready to strike Iran – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Op-ed: Israel’s message to world – either you stop Iran’s nuclear program, or we will

UN to reveal signs of Iran nuclear arms plan – FT.com.

The UN atomic watchdog will publish fresh evidence next week suggesting that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s report will spell out in unprecedented detail the possible military dimensions of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

It is expected to unveil a significant amount of hitherto unpublished data showing how Iran may have worked on designing an atomic warhead in recent years.

Tehran has always insisted that its atomic programme is peaceful and that it is aimed at developing civil nuclear power.

However, western diplomats say the IAEA report will contain a significant level of detail on research and experiments carried out in recent years that point to evidence of a military programme.

At the Group of 20 summit in Cannes on Thursday, President Barack Obama referred to the significance of next week’s IAEA report. The US leader said: “The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran’s nuclear programme next week and President [Nicolas] Sarkozy [of France] and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.”

Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said western powers were becoming increasingly alarmed by the progress Iran was making on its nuclear programme.

Iranian teams have recently begun moving centrifuge machines, which enrich uranium, into a mountain facility near the city of Qom. Once inside the mountain, the centrifuges are protected from attack by air strikes.

At its main enrichment plant at Natanz, Iran has installed about 200 advanced centrifuge machines that produce enriched uranium at a much faster rate than previous models. Iran is also continuing to accumulate stockpiles of uranium enriched with a 20 per cent concentration – a level close to weapons-grade.

“All these factors are giving Israel and western powers reason for concern,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. “Some analysts calculate that Iran could be just two months away from testing a bomb. I still think it is more than a year, although the more alarmist claims are getting publicity.”

Iran’s nuclear programme is a key topic of political debate in Israel, amid reports that the government is locked in serious talks over the merits of an Israeli-led air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Citing unnamed officials, Israeli media say that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is trying to muster a majority inside his cabinet in favour of military action.

The debate has been further fuelled by reports of an Israeli missile test and by news that Israeli fighter jets took part in an aerial exercise over Italy that reportedly simulated long-range air strikes.

However, none of the reports claimed that the government was close to ordering a strike on Iran.

Israeli analysts and officials note that Mr Netanyahu and his colleagues have long been worried that the international community is no longer paying sufficient attention to the Iranian nuclear programme.

The recent flurry of leaks and reports may be an attempt by the Israeli leadership to refocus diplomatic attention on the Iranian programme at a time when much of the developed world is preoccupied by the global economic crisis.

Fuel Fix » Israel-Iran: Reaching Critical Mass?.

By Michael J. Economides and Peter Glover

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) due on November 8 could well prove the decisive factor in triggering an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities – no matter whether the Obama administration gives its backing.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Prime Minister Netanyahu and former PM Ehud Barak have in recent weeks been seeking Cabinet support for a military strike on Iran. At present, there is a slight Cabinet majority opposed to a strike. But with some members still undecided, that majority could easily shift in favor of military action depending on the new evidence contained in the upcoming IAEA report. A poll in Haaretz shows public support in Israel for an attack running at 41 percent for, 39 percent again, and 20 percent undecided. On Wednesday, according to Israel Radio, a ballistic missile was test-fired from central Israel.

Clearly next week’s critical IAEA report looks set to refocus the world’s attention on Iran and whether its nuclear capability has reached critical mass.

The big question is, if the IAEA’s new evidence reveals Iran’s nuclear enrichment is at a highly advanced stage, what would President Obama be prepared to sanction? The last thing Obama will want on the run up to election year is a new U.S. military commitment. However, the president’s rhetoric has always been aimed at stopping Iranian nuclear aspirations and, if sanctions aren’t working to that end (and they are not), the military option is still on the table. And Netanyahu has always made it clear to President Obama: stop Iran – or I will.

Whatever our view of the threat to Israel and/or the need to prevent a fiercely ideological, terrorist-sponsoring, Iranian regime from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, our consideration here looks at the potential impact a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would mean for the region and beyond. And it is not at all the apocalyptic vision often expressed in the media by some Western academics.

First, while numerous Western ‘experts’ persist in using the alarmist rhetoric of an attack initiating a “conflagration across the Middle East” (and vilifying Israel for threatening it) they could not be more wrong.

As we have constantly stated, not only would sanctions fail to deter an ideologically-committed regime like Teheran’s, Shia Iran actually has few real friends among its regional neighbors. As the Wiki-leaks emails on the subject confirmed in 2010, Iran’s Arab Sunni neighbors not only fear Iran’s nuclear ambitions as much as Israel, they have already urged the United States to act militarily against Iran. While there will be much political rhetoric and sabre-rattling in the streets if Iran were to be ‘de-nuked’, the truth is there would be, as we have said, “a collective sigh of relief from Riyadh to Amman to Cairo”.

Here again is a reminder of what the Wiki-leaks emails confirmed Iran’s neighbors have privately been urging on the United States (with thanks to The Israel Project website for collating these examples as published in The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel in 2010):

• Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to destroy the Iranian program. “He told you [Americans] to ‘cut off the head of the snake,’” the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, said, according to a report on Abdullah’s meeting with the U.S. general David Petraeus in April 2008. Abdullah told a US diplomat: “The bottom line is that they [the Iranians] cannot be trusted.” (al-Jubeir is the man linked with an allegedly Iranian backed assassination attempt.)
• Officials from Jordan also called for the Iranian program to be stopped by any means necessary, while leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt referred to Iran as “evil” and an “existential threat.”

As former U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Jon Bolton has observed over an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites: “There’ll be public denunciations but no action”.

Second, more immediate consequences would be experienced by the global energy markets. If an Israeli or U.S. strike on Iran is undertaken, we should, of course, expect an immediate spike in oil prices. Not only would Iranian oil and gas exports be hit, but the Straits of Hormuz off the Iranian coastline, through which 35 percent of the world’s oil is exported, would quickly become threatened.

It would take perhaps two weeks or more to disable Iran’s nuclear facilities even using bunker-busting extreme-intensity bombs. During that time, we should expect Iran to move to close the Straits as it attempted to do exactly during the Iraq-Iran War of the 1980s. It was prevented from doing so by the U.S. navy. In the event of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Western warships would have to be mobilized to keep the energy choke point of the Straits of Hormuz open.

In addition, moving to blockading Iran’s ports would also cut off the country’s own critical gasoline supplies. Amazingly, for its enormous energy resources, Iran’s lack of refining capacity forces it to import a large proportion of its transportation fuel. The country would quickly grind to a halt, a consequence of which could well lead to the current regime being brought down.

We have long predicted that sanctions would not work against Iran and that an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran, far from inviting an apocalypse across the Middle East, would be welcomed by Iran’s neighbors. Further, in Spying Iran’s End Game (September 2011), we noted that a key Iranian Revolutionary Guard website appeared to be readying the country’s population for a massive attack by the regime on an unspecified enemy.

Whatever transpires in the wake of the publication of the IAEA’s report on November 8, if military action does ensue, two things become paramount. First, the ‘de-nuking’ of Iran would not lead to an apocalypse across the Middle East and would indeed be widely (if privately) welcomed in most Arab capitals. Second, politicians must utilize Western warships to keep open the energy choke point of the Straits of Hormuz.

Michael Economides is Editor-in-Chief of the Energy Tribune

FT.com / Middle East & North Africa – UN to reveal signs of Iran nuclear arms plan.

It is expected to unveil a significant amount of hitherto unpublished data showing how Iran may have worked on designing an atomic warhead in recent years.

Tehran has always insisted that its atomic programme is peaceful and that it is aimed at developing civil nuclear power.

However, western diplomats say the IAEA report will contain a significant level of detail on research and experiments carried out in recent years that point to evidence of a military programme.

At the Group of 20 summit in Cannes on Thursday, President Barack Obama referred to the significance of next week’s IAEA report. The US leader said: “The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran’s nuclear programme next week and President [Nicolas] Sarkozy [of France] and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.”

Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said western powers were becoming increasingly alarmed by the progress Iran was making on its nuclear programme.

Iranian teams have recently begun moving centrifuge machines, which enrich uranium, into a mountain facility near the city of Qom. Once inside the mountain, the centrifuges are protected from attack by air strikes.

At its main enrichment plant at Natanz, Iran has installed about 200 advanced centrifuge machines that produce enriched uranium at a much faster rate than previous models. Iran is also continuing to accumulate stockpiles of uranium enriched with a 20 per cent concentration – a level close to weapons-grade.

“All these factors are giving Israel and western powers reason for concern,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. “Some analysts calculate that Iran could be just two months away from testing a bomb. I still think it is more than a year, although the more alarmist claims are getting publicity.”

Iran’s nuclear programme is a key topic of political debate in Israel, amid reports that the government is locked in serious talks over the merits of an Israeli-led air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Citing unnamed officials, Israeli media say that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is trying to muster a majority inside his cabinet in favour of military action.

The debate has been further fuelled by reports of an Israeli missile test and by news that Israeli fighter jets took part in an aerial exercise over Italy that reportedly simulated long-range air strikes.

However, none of the reports claimed that the government was close to ordering a strike on Iran.

Israeli analysts and officials note that Mr Netanyahu and his colleagues have long been worried that the international community is no longer paying sufficient attention to the Iranian nuclear programme.

The recent flurry of leaks and reports may be an attempt by the Israeli leadership to refocus diplomatic attention on the Iranian programme at a time when much of the developed world is preoccupied by the global economic crisis.

Factbox: How Israel and Iran shape up militarily | Reuters.

(Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog is due to report on Iran’s nuclear program next week, amid renewed speculation about a possible Israeli or U.S. military attack on the Islamic Republic.

Israel, where much of the speculation has originated, staged a mass drill on Thursday, simulating the effect of a missile attack, a day after it test-fired a long-range missile.

Israel, the United States and European powers suspect Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon capability. Tehran says its program is for peaceful, civilian purposes.

Here are some details on how Israel and Iran shape up militarily:

* ISRAEL ARMED FORCES

Israel has 176,500 personnel on active service made up of 133,000 in the army, which includes 107,000 conscripts. There are 9,500 in the navy and 34,000 in the air force. There is a reserve of 565,000.

* ARMY

MAIN BATTLE TANKS: 3,501, including 441 Merkava MkI, 455 Merkava MkII, 454 Merkava MkIII, 175 Merkava MkIV and 206 Centurions.

ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIERS: 10,484

ARTILLERY: 5,432 artillery pieces, including 620 self-propelled and 456 towed.

* NAVY

NAVAL CRAFT

— 3 Dolphin (GER type 212 variant) tactical submarines and 57 patrol and coastal combatants, including 3 corvettes.

AIR FORCE

— 460 combat capable aircraft, with 168 fighters, including 27 F-15A Eagle, 7 F-15B and 90 F-16-A Fighting Falcons; 227 ground attack fighters; 65 attack aircraft.

— 9 tanker/transport aircraft and 77 other transport aircraft.

— 81 attack helicopters, including 30 AH-1E/AH-1F Cobra and 30 AH-64A Apache; 200 transport helicopters.

— air defense includes 48 towed SAMs and 920 guns.

* STRATEGIC FORCES

— Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear capability. Delivery means include Jericho 2 intermediate-range ballistic missiles and Jericho 1 short-range ballistic missiles.

— It is believed to have up to 200 nuclear warheads.

* IRAN

ARMED FORCES

— Iran has more than 523,000 personnel on active service, comprising 350,000 in the army, including 220,000 conscripts. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, viewed as the most loyal guardian of the ruling system, has another 125,000.

— 18,000 naval personnel and 30,000 air force personnel including 12,000 air defense. Reserves of 350,000.

* ARMY

MAIN BATTLE TANKS: 1,613, including some 100 locally produced Zulfiqar, about 100 elderly British-made Chieftain Mk3 and Mk5, and 150 U.S.-made M-60A1, as well as 480 Soviet-designed T-72, 540 T-54/T-55.

ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIERS: About 640.

ARTILLERY: 8,196 artillery pieces of which 2,010 towed and over 310 self-propelled.

* NAVY

NAVAL CRAFT:

— 23 submarines, including 15 tactical; 3 Kilo class (RUS Type 877) attack submarines, 12 midget submarines and 8 swimmer delivery vehicles.

— More than 100 patrol and coastal combatants, including 6 corvettes, 13 patrol craft, 4 patrol boats, 21 semi-submersible boats and 56 various other patrol vessels.

* AIR FORCE:

— 336 combat capable aircraft.

— 189 fighter aircraft including 20 F-5B, 60 F-5E Tiger II and 35 Mig-29A.

— 108 ground attack aircraft.

— 116 transport aircraft.

— 30 Bell 214C maritime reconnaissance helicopters.

* MISSILES:

— Air defense has more than 279 SAM missiles.

— Iran’s strategic missiles are controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.

— It has around 300 short-range ballistic missiles, including Shahab-1 (Scud-B), Shahab-2 (Scud-C), as well as Tondar-69 (CSS-8).

— It has Shahab-3 strategic intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) with a range of up to 1,000 km, the Ghadr-1 with an estimated 1,600 km range and a Shahab-3 variant known as Sajjil-2 with a range of up to 2,400 km.

— In January 2009, Iran said it had tested a new air-to-air missile. On March 7, 2010, Iran said it had started producing short-range cruise missiles which it described as highly accurate and able to destroy heavy targets.

— The Revolutionary Guards have 24 launchers of which 12 to 18 are for the short range Shahab 1-2, and at least 6 for the Shahab-3, Ghadr-1 and Sajjil-2.

Sources: Reuters/2011 Military Balance/CSIS Report on Gulf Miltary Balance 2011 (Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

Islamist Jihad ready for all-out war with Israel | Reuters.

GAZA (Reuters) – The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which traded deadly fire with Israel at the weekend in Gaza, does not expect a subsequent truce to last long and has at least 8,000 fighters ready for war, a spokesman said.

Islamic Jihad is the second largest armed group in Gaza, after Hamas, which rules the tiny Mediterranean enclave. The two share a commitment to the destruction of Israel and both are classified as terrorist groups by most Western governments.

However, while Hamas has recently spent much of its energy on the business of government, Islamic Jihad has kept its focus firmly on the conflict, gaining in prominence and enjoying significant backing from Muslim supporters, including Iran.

“We are proud and honoured to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran gives us support and help,” Abu Ahmed, the spokesman for Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Jerusalem Brigades, told Reuters in a rare, long interview.

He denied widespread reports that Iran had provided his group with arms and smiled at suggestions it now receives more sophisticated weaponry from Tehran than Hamas. He also declined to comment on rumours that the Jihadists were trained by Iran.

“What I will say is that we have every right to turn to every source of power for help,” said the burly, bearded Abu Ahmed, occasionally flicking a string of yellow prayer beads.

Islamic Jihad’s latest confrontation with Israel left 12 Palestinian gunmen and one Israeli civilian dead. The fighting ended only after neighbouring Egypt brokered a cease-fire with both parties, but Abu Ahmed did not see it lasting long.

“Theoretically the calm has been restored, but in practice it hasn’t really,” he said. Israel, he said, is itching for a fight in Gaza following last month’s prisoner-swap accord, in which Israel released 477 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006.

Israel says it attacks only in self-defence.

TRADING BLOWS

It killed five senior Islamic Jihad militants on Saturday in retaliation for a rocket attack two days earlier that it blamed on the group. That rocket caused no casualties, but landed deep enough into Israel to set off sirens on Tel Aviv’s outskirts.

Abu Ahmed denied responsibility for the missile, saying this was how Israel had managed to find five top fighters together in the open — because they had not expected to be targeted.

But the Jerusalem Brigades soon hit back, firing numerous rockets into southern Israel, piercing the country’s defensive missile shield. One Israeli man died, at least four others were injured, while cars and a building were also set ablaze.

The group posted a video online showing a missile-launcher on the back of a truck firing a salvo of rockets. It was the first time the group has claimed to have such firepower, although there was no independent confirmation of its use.

“The Jerusalem Brigades really surprised Israel, forcing them to rethink their assessment of us … I don’t think they realised we had that weaponry,” said Abu Ahmed, indicating the vehicle was immediately hidden underground after the attack.

Jerusalem Brigades cells are dotted around Gaza and Abu Ahmed said there was huge demand from youngsters to join.

“We take some, but can’t accept everyone … It is a question of quality, not quantity,” he said, giving for the first time an estimate of the strength of the force. “We have at least 8,000 fighters, who are fully equipped.”

The group got a boost to its standing in August when the new rulers in Egypt started dealing with it directly over truces, rather than through Hamas. Abu Ahmed said Hamas was not involved in the latest fighting and that all the talking was with Egypt.

He played down reports of tensions with Hamas, which since Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in late 2008 has appeared reluctant to go head-to-head with its sworn enemy.

“Certainly in terms of ideology, there is no difference between Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The difference is in the methodology,” Abu Ahmed said, adding that Hamas’s governmental role meant that it was “more vulnerable to outside pressure.”

He said Islamic Jihad’s biggest problem was the Israeli armed drones that regularly buzz over Gaza seeking out militants. “Warfare has changed. You can’t just hide a gun in your jacket like you could in the 1980s,” he said, adding that the Jihadist fighters were not afraid of sudden death.

“It is a good feeling to be under drone attack. When we chose the path of resistance, we opted either for martyrdom or victory. Martyrdom is the more desirable.”

(I’m sure Israel will be more than happy to accommodate them in this desire. – JW)

Palestinians fire on Israelis bui… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics.

Photo by: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
11/03/2011 13:20

Terrorists open fire, shoot mortar shells at Israelis near Kibbutz Zikim; IDF responds; no injuries reported among Israelis.

Talkbacks ()

    Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis working on the security fence separating Israel from Gaza. 

IDF forces on the scene returned fire, and exchanges of fire are still ongoing, an Army spokesman said. The Palestinian attack included mortar shells on the Israeli position.

No injuries among Israelis have so far been reported. The incident is taking place near Kibbutz Zikim in the Western Negev.

IDF tank shells were also fired at the terrorists.

The IDF approved a series of operations aimed at widening the scope of its responses to Islamic Jihad rocket attacks from Gaza on Sunday, but delayed the operation at Egypt’s request. Some 40 rockets were fired at Israel over the weekend, which killed one civilian, wounded several others and caused significant damage to buildings and cars.

An air force aircraft successful a terrorist cell preparing to launch a rocket on Sunday, thwarting the attack. The cell reportedly belonged to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One terrorist was killed and another was seriously wounded.

Israel and Iran Nearing Point of No Return | US Opinion and Editorial Right Side News.

When US military forces leave Iraq next month, Israel’s door to Iran will swing wide open.  Iraqi airspace will be available for Israel’s air force for the first time since US troops invaded Iraq.  Tensions have been ramping up between the two government’s for the past year, or so, especially since Obama’s announcement that US forces would leave Iraq next month.

As a police officer many, many, decades ago, I learned, first hand, that some people just don’t know when to shut up.  Many times a police officer will find that he has to separate two people shouting threats at each other.  While one calms down the other continues, even after being warned multiple times to be quiet, shouting epithets, curses, and threats at his former antagonist.  More often that not, the loud-mouth finds him/herself face down on the ground, with his hands cuffed behind him, and on his way to jail.  As we indicated, some people just cannot grasp that there is a time to shut one’s mouth — and keep it shut.

Such, it would seem, is Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran.  He continues yammering when he should simmer down.  One must consider the possibility that he is attempting to convince himself (more than anyone else) that Iran can destroy Israel. Ahmadinejad is on the brink of a rude awakening. He is about to talk himself into a thrashing of biblical proportions.

On the other hand Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, has had more than enough of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s threats and posturing as well as Iran’s arming of proxy troops in nations surrounding Israel.  For Netanyahu — it is put up or shut up time for Iran.

There is an extremely thin line of resistance to a preemptive attack on Iran in the Israeli government.  That resistance can dissipate at a moment’s notice, however.

I find it extremely difficult to believe that Iran has any idea of the strength and lethality of the Israeli Defense Forces.

When the attack begins, it will not be simply an air attack. It will be a three-pronged attack by the air, land, and sea forces of Israel.  It will rival America’s “shock and awe” attack on Iraq.

This projection is based on Israel going it alone — without US assistance. However, I expect US naval assets will guarantee the Straits of Hormuz will remain open, when the attack begins, and be joined in that effort by Israeli naval forces immediately after the opening few hours of battle.

Should the US Navy elect to stand down during Israel’s attack, the Israeli navy and IDF Special Forces are quite capable of removing Iranian missile emplacements that would certainly be used to fire on oil tankers and naval vessels in an attempt to close the Straits to out bound oil bearing ships.  An air attack on the Straits will be met by US aircraft — defending the waterway — and quickly smashed.

Netanyahu is former member of the IDF Special Forces.  He is no novice when it comes to matters of war.  Netanyahu’s brother was killed in the Israeli raid on the Entebbe airport in which many hostages from a highjacked airliner were being held.  The hostages were freed but the Netanyahu family, like so many Israeli families, felt the loss of a loved one to military conflict.  There can be no doubt that Netanyahu knows the pain of war.  He also understands that if Israel is to survive, it will be called upon, once again, to sacrifice it’s young on the bloody alter of war.

Delaying the inevitable is only going to intensify the conflict when it comes and probably extend it, as well. The IDF has been training for this war for years now.  Israel’s troops are keen, sharp, and leaning forward.  A number of its assets are; no doubt, already forward deployed and awaiting orders.

Even as US forces are leaving Iraq, the US is already building up its forces “in the area.”  It is said, publicly, to be a back up in case the experiment in nation building in Iraq begins to crumble – or — Iran starts trouble in Iraq.

The fact is, that once hostilities commence between Iran and Israel, Iran will most certainly make every effort it possibly can to kill American troops in the area they consider their sphere of influence. Therefore, it will be nigh on to impossible for the US to remain on the sidelines.

Americans must face the fact that America is at war and will remain in a state of war for as far as the eye can see into the future. The US government should understand this and immediately cease all talk of cutting funding for the only thing that stands between Americans and their freedom:  The US Military.

J. D. Longstreet is a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in “America First”.· He is a thirty-year veteran of the broadcasting business, as an “in the field” and “on-air” news reporter (contributing to radio, TV, and newspapers) and a conservative broadcast commentator.

Longstreet is a veteran of the US Army and US Army Reserve. He is a member of the American Legion and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.· A lifelong Christian, Longstreet subscribes to “old Lutheranism” to express and exercise his faith.

israel today | Israel on edge over preparations to attack Iran – israel today.

On top of all the local activity, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday that the British military is “accelerating” preparations to take part in a US-led strike on Iran.

The report came just days after the head of the British military, Gen. David Richards visited Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is currently in London holding talks with Britain’s top defense officials.

London’s Daily Mail followed up with a report citing officials who said US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had determined that after years of diplomatic efforts, there is now no alternative to military intervention as a means of halting Iran’s nuclear program.

Obama and Cameron “are preparing for war after reports that Iran now has enough enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons,” reported the paper.

While a strike on Iran is certainly not a given, all the talk and obvious preparations have put most Israelis on edge.

Many in Israel believe there will ultimately be no choice but to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities – just as Israel did to Iraq in 1981 and to Syria in 2007 – but know that such a move will carry a heavy price tag.

Even if Israel does not play a direct role in a military operation against Iran, it would bear the brunt of the retaliation. And if Iran responded by firing unconventional weapons at Tel Aviv, Israel would be compelled to launch a counter-strike.