If Trump refuses to strike Fordo.. What are Israel’s alternatives?
As President Donald Trump gave Iran a two-week deadline “at most” to avoid potential U.S. strikes, Israel is preparing backup plans in case the White House makes a decision that doesn’t align with Israeli goals.
When asked Friday whether he might strike Iran before the two-week period ends, Trump told reporters: “I’m giving them a little time. I’d say two weeks is the maximum… We’ll see whether the Iranians come to their senses.”
But what if Trump opts not to strike?
According to Fox News, if President Trump decides not to order an attack on Iran’s primary underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, Israel has a number of options to destroy the heavily fortified facility, buried deep under a mountain south of Tehran.
One option includes deploying elite Israeli Air Force commandos from Unit 5101, known as “Shaldag”—Hebrew for kingfisher, a bird known for its patience and precision diving.
Last September, members of this elite unit stunned the world by infiltrating an underground missile factory used by Iran in Syria.
Former Israeli Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told Fox News: “There was a site similar to Fordo. Although smaller, the Syrian facility was producing advanced, precise ballistic missiles with Iranian technology and funding.”
Shaldag—the key
Unit 5101 used the cover of darkness and diversionary airstrikes to infiltrate the secret site, plant explosives, and destroy the compound. Like Iran’s Fordo facility, the Syrian site was buried 90 meters underground.
“The Air Force neutralized the perimeter guards, Shaldag went in, and the place disappeared,” Yadlin said.
It wouldn’t be the first time Israel planned a solo strike on a secret nuclear site. In 1981, Israel launched a daring mission to bomb Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor.
Yadlin was one of eight young F-16 pilots who carried out that secret operation.
He recalls: “We had no aerial refueling, no GPS. Just dumb bombs and smart pilots. It was an extremely complex mission, especially with Iraq in a war with Iran.”
In 2008, when it became clear that Israeli F-16s couldn’t reach Iranian nuclear sites, Yadlin instructed the Mossad to find an alternative. Two years later, Israel and the U.S. deployed the Stuxnet virus, a malicious computer worm that disabled thousands of centrifuges at Natanz, delaying Iran’s uranium enrichment.
In 2007, Yadlin was the head of military intelligence when Israel destroyed a secret Syrian nuclear reactor that was previously unknown to the international community.
What about Fordo?
Striking Fordo, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, is a different matter. Israel would prefer that the U.S. deploy B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, according to Fox News.
“Anyone who wants this war to end quickly needs to address Fordo,” Yadlin said. “Some think hitting Fordo would escalate the war—I believe it would end it.”
Other options
Another possibility is cutting power to Fordo; without electricity, the centrifuges could be permanently disabled, Fox News adds.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked whether Israel could destroy Fordo without U.S. B-2 bombers, he told Fox’s Bret Baier in an exclusive interview last Sunday: “We also have quite a few start-ups and a lot of secret plans. I don’t think I should get into that.”
