JERUSALEM -- In the pine-tree-shaded hills outside Jerusalem, the Israeli government is building a massive war bunker where top government officials would take shelter in case of a biological, chemical or nuclear attack.
The government ordered the construction of the labyrinth of underground tunnels and rooms years ago - long before the current fears of Iran's nuclear ambitions - but its expected completion date in the next year or two could not be more timely.
Israel's chief intelligence officer warned members of the Knesset last month that Iran could have a bomb by 2009, a weapon that Israelis increasingly worry that Tehran would not hesitate to use against the Jewish state. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has more than once vowed to "wipe Israel off the map."
Such a doomsday scenario might appear far-fetched, but in Israel concern over Iran's intentions has become a national obsession, creating new levels of anxiety as Iran vows to push ahead with its program in the face of United Nations Security Council sanctions.
Some Israeli hawks fear that the window for diplomacy with Iran is closing and that Israel may be forced to act alone to stop Tehran. Others dismiss such fears as hype, suggesting that there is plenty of time to work out a nonmilitary solution to the crisis.
Speaking this week in Jerusalem, Ephraim Sneh, Israel's deputy defense minister, bemoaned the world's reluctance to take stronger action against Iran to stop its nuclear program, which threatens not only Israel, but much of the world, he said.
"What I call upon them to do is wake up!" Sneh said.
Referring to Iran, he said: "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 Israel, but other countries as well. That's why we believe everything should be done in order to avoid it," he said.
Iran maintains that it's pursuing a nuclear program for peaceful purposes only, primarily to generate electricity. But Israel, the United States and the European Union are convinced that Tehran is rapidly trying to develop an atomic bomb.
Although there is international concern about Iran, Israel complains that it finds itself very much alone in its fight with Iran. Israeli officials say Ahmadinejad's regime has sought to undermine the Jewish state by vowing to bring about its destruction, questioning the Holocaust and sponsoring attacks against Israel through its backing of Palestinian militant groups in Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
