Israel Readies Nuclear Bunker

The Israeli government is building a massive war bunker in the hills outside Jerusalem – a refuge for top government officials in the event of a biological, chemical or nuclear attack. The maze of tunnels and underground rooms is scheduled to be completed in the next year or two as fears of an attack from Iran intensify. Israel’s top intelligence officer told the Knesset last month that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by 2009, and Israelis increasingly fear that Tehran would seek to carry out Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s threat to "wipe Israel off the map.” Ephraim Sneh, Israel’s deputy defense minister, said recently regarding Iran: "Imagine that this regime – the powerhouse of terrorism in the region, with its ambitions of expansion and domination of the entire region – would have the power of nuclear blackmail. What would life in this region look like? Not only [for] Israel, but other countries as well.” A November poll by the Israeli newspaper Maariv found that 66 percent of Israelis believe Iran, if it develops a nuclear weapon, would try to use a bomb to destroy Israel.