YNET NEWS: State sources say Olmert orders top cabinet officials to draft proposals for dealing with potential nuclear Iran. Minister Ayalon: 'We must prepare for scenario where all alternatives fail'
Israel is quietly preparing for the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran despite public pledges to deny its arch-foe the means to pose an "existential threat", political and defense sources said on Thursday.
They said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed cabinet officials to draft proposals on how Israel, which according to foreign media reports retains the only atomic arsenal in the Middle East, might deal with losing that monopoly.
Israel predicts that Iran's nuclear program could produce warheads by 2009. Western intelligence services say it may take several more years. Israel braces for Iran bomb despite vow to prevent (more)
Mark Alexander
