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Israel Steps Up Military Planning Against Iran's Nuclear Program
(Al-Monitor) Ben Caspit - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant agreed on Wednesday on a multiyear defense budget, a large portion of which will be dedicated to preparations for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear program. The head of the Defense Ministry's Political-Security Division, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Dror Shalom, said Israel must shift gears and realize that it is already engaged in a war of varying intensity with Iran. Recent reports about Iran's 84% uranium enrichment level suggest that Iran is capable of reaching a military nuclear breakout in a matter of weeks. Even if it takes Iran two more years to develop a nuclear warhead, Israel knows that the time frame for attacking Iran to counter this threat is shrinking. Shalom said cooperation with the U.S. would be preferable, but even without such help, Israel cannot avoid such a move and will go it alone. However, attacking Iran now will be far more difficult than it would have been had Israel taken advantage of the window of opportunity that opened up a decade ago.