Newsweek article: Israel may act alone as Iran's nuclear dream is about to come true

The American magazine "Newsweek" published

expecting Israel to act in isolation from the United States and carry out an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, to stop Tehran's rapid progress in obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The article, written by Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Council on Foreign Policy - an independent think tank based in Washington, D.C. - indicated that Israel has for years preferred to sit in the back seat of American policymakers in dealing with the "threat" posed by semi-nuclear Iran, but recently The latter, at least two factors, have indicated that Israel may not be willing to remain on the sidelines for much longer.

The writer explained that the first factor is Iran's continued nuclear progress, adding that US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told the US House Armed Forces Committee that the Iranian regime can now produce enough fissile material for one nuclear bomb in "about 12 days."

Enduring consensus in Israel

Berman added that despite the huge internal divisions in Israel, there is always a consensus that Iran represents an existential threat, and that the commitment to preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons goes beyond coalition governments and partisan political shifts.

The other factor - Berman says - that affects Israeli thinking is the growing strategic cooperation between Russia and Iran. The current war in Ukraine has caused a radical change in the Russian-Iranian partnership, and Tehran has made an important lifeline for the Kremlin, which is now facing serious setbacks in its campaign against Ukraine. The result is a dramatic consolidation of the already close strategic ties between the two countries.

The time frame is accelerating

The writer pointed out that Moscow and Tehran signed a new secret agreement that expands nuclear cooperation between them and that Russia delivers advanced S-400 air defense systems to Iran in the near future, which will make Israel's task difficult.

As a result, he said, Israel's strategic calculations are changing and the timeframe for an Israeli attack is accelerating.