Israeli facilities are on alert because of possible terrorist threats by the Iranian government. I wrote a recent article entitled Will Iran be the new Al-Qaeda? in which I outlined threats that the Iranians could and would attack targets worldwide if they are attacked by either the US or Israel. The Iranians refuse to end their nuclear procurement program which the US and Israel insist that they do. They even have caused concern among other Arab countries in the region because they have indicated that they wont hesitate to use nuclear weapons if they have them. Their record is such that the world doesnt take them for granted.

Israeli authorities actually believe that the threat on their facilities worldwide will increase they classify their sites as hard sites or soft sites. The hard sites are guarded and the soft sites are those which typically are not guarded. Police and intelligence officials in U.S. and Canadian cities have increased patrols at Israeli government locations and Jewish institutions in response to these beliefs.

The United States and Israel, meanwhile, are publicly disagreeing over timing for a potential attack on Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. I believe that this is a ploy by the two governments to confuse the issue as far as the Iranians are concerned. I believe that the US and Israel have talked about their options together and both know exactly what is the course of action by the other. I also believe that they have joined their intelligence assets in this situation and that both are privy to the exact same terror.

Theres a growing concern that the Israelis will launch a strike without approval, warning or even foreknowledge. This is called a pre emptive strike in military terms and is an attack which is conducted in order to save the attacker from greater harm by the country that it attacks.

The Iranians are currently in the process of shielding their assets from possible attack by the US and Israel. This process consists of moving critical facilities underground, beefing up their radar and air defenses, and acquiring surface to air missiles to attack invading aircraft. Other things that the Iranians might do to shield their assets would possibly be to reduce their electronic signature and enhance jamming operations in order to jam enemy communications.

The two nations have a significant analytic difference over estimates of how close Iran is to shielding its nuclear program from attack.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel must consider an operation before Iran reaches an immunity zone. This means a point where they will have shielded their assets enough to withstand the effects of any attack.

Today, unlike the past, the world has no doubt that Irans nuclear program is steadily nearing readiness and is about to enter an immunity zone, Barak said in an address to the annual Herzliya Conference.
World concern is that such an attack would cause a world conflict of epic proportions. No one knows what the fallout of such an operation would be. It could well lead to another world war, or another situation such as we have in the War on Terror except that the Iranians would effectively take the place of al-Qaeda.

Israeli leaders have said their country is able to withstand Iranian retaliation.

The thwarted Iranian assassination plot of a Saudi official in Washington, D.C., a couple of months ago was an important data point because it showed at least parts of the Iranian establishment were aware of the intended event and were not concerned about inevitable collateral damage to U.S. citizens had they carried out an assassination plot on American soil. After the disruption of the alleged assassination plot, regional intelligence centers issued bulletins similar to the recent Israeli warning. Military Ring Express