TEL AVIV, Israel — Iran’s nuclear facilities would be “extremely” difficult for Israeli forces to strike, defense sources have told The Post, adding that the Jewish state is willing to take such a bold step if officials deem it necessary — since President-elect Donald Trump has not objected to the possibility.
Israel has been at indirect war with Iran since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered roughly 1,200 civilians and kidnapped hundreds more.
Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen comprise tentacles of Iran’s “octopus” threat, as Israeli officials describe it.
Now, with Tehran severely weakened following more than a year of conflict, insiders tell The Post Israel is desperate to wipe out Iran’s nuclear capabilities — by force, if necessary.
“We have no option [not to address the threat] because we understand [Iran’s nuclear weapons] would be pointed at us and our stance is, we are against it, and hope there is a way to stop it that is not militarily,” one official explained. “But if not, we’re ready to act militarily.”
Iran has been building up its nuclear capabilities for years, with Trump withdrawing the US from the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, citing Tehran’s unwillingness to stick to the terms of the agreement requiring the dismantling of much of its nuclear program and allowing for more extensive international inspections.
“I think the nuclear problem is bigger than what it seems,” one Israeli defense source told The Post. “One is because of the way it’s spread out. It’s underground and in multiple locations, which would make it very hard to wipe out all at the same time and successfully. But some of it is really deep underground.”
The complexity of the layout would also require major military capabilities, such as so-called “bunker buster” bombs that Israel used in its September strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah.
The US sent Israel the 2,000-pound weapons in 2023, but President Biden canceled another shipment of the munitions last year, citing concern they would be used in Gaza — a controversial move supporters of Israel claim was made to placate pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Additionally, the global fallout of such a mission could be immense, as Iran is one of four countries in an axis of states aligned against the West — along with China, Russia and North Korea.
“It could threaten the stability of the world, because once Russia and North Korea see we attacked a nuclear president of Iran, they can be like, ‘Wait, what’s going on?’” an Israeli insider told The Post. “I think it’s a bigger question, like a global question, that the US [will have to confront.]”
Israel is also unlikely to benefit from strategic ambiguity, as it did in September 2007 when it attacked a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria, this person added.
“Attacking a nuclear site hasn’t happened in many years, and I think the world is different [in] the way it’s working now, social media and all that,” the insider said. “Fifteen years ago, when we attacked the Syrian nuclear plant, we didn’t even talk about it for 10 years. That helped us kind of save face and not [provoke] anything.”
Officials told The Post in Tel Aviv that they are confident Trump will stand by the US ally as Israeli officials talk through their options.
Unlike Biden, Trump has not publicly denounced such a potential step — and has consistently indicated support for letting Israel determine its own defense strategies.
“What Israel really needs is America to back us if we attack Iran,” Israeli philosopher and Salom Hartman Institute research fellow Micah Goodman told The Post in an interview last month. “We need to know America will be with us — either to attack Iran with us or to give us everything we need [from its] arsenal.”
“Once Iran goes nuclear, what’s left of the old world order collapses,” he added.
“The US has said that Iran will not have a nuclear bomb,” Goodman added. “George Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden — so this is not just the promise of one president. This is term after term, which means if Iran reaches a nuclear comb, America’s word is worth nothing.”
The Biden administration has frequently armchair-quarterbacked the IDF’s moves in its prosecution of the war against Hamas, something several Israeli leaders told The Post they are hopeful will not continue under the Trump administration.
“What we all know is that the US always stood by our side for years — since the beginning of Israel as a country,” a defense ministry spokeswoman told The Post. “I’m sure that it will continue standing by our side as it did for years, especially with the Iranian axis [threatening the world].”
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