Should President Trump opt against ordering a strike on Fordow, Iran’s underground enrichment site, Israel possesses several strategies to dismantle the nuclear facility, which is deeply embedded beneath a mountain south of Tehran.
Among these options is the deployment of elite Israeli Air Force commandos from Unit 5101, also known as Shaldag, a Hebrew term meaning “kingfisher” – a bird recognized for its patience and deep-diving ability in pursuit of prey.
Last September, this elite unit gained global attention by infiltrating an underground missile factory operated by Iran in Syria.
“There was a site that similarly looked like Fordow,” Amos Yadlin, former Israeli Military Intelligence Chief, stated in an exclusive interview. “Although smaller, the Syrian facility was producing advanced, precise ballistic missiles, utilizing Iranian technology and funding.”
The site was attacked from the air on several occasions, but these efforts did not succeed in destroying it.
Unit 5101 (Shaldag) utilized the cover of night and diversionary airstrikes to infiltrate the clandestine site, subsequently planting explosives and demolishing the complex. Similar to Iran’s Fordow mountain complex south of Tehran, this facility was situated 300 feet below ground.
“The Air Force neutralized all perimeter guards, allowing Shaldag to enter, and the place is gone, destroyed,” Yadlin remarked with a subtle smile.
This would not be the first instance of Israel being compelled to devise a strategy for neutralizing a covert nuclear complex independently and against considerable odds. In 1981, Israel executed an audacious mission to bomb Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak.
Yadlin was among the eight young Israeli F-16 pilots who conducted this clandestine assault.
“We lacked air refueling and GPS at that time. It involved dumb bombs and smart pilots, making it a highly challenging operational mission as Iraq was at war (with Iran), leading to a very elevated state of alert,” Yadlin recounted. He and his fellow pilots harbored concerns that it could be a suicide mission, potentially lacking sufficient fuel for their return.
More recently, retired Maj. Gen. Yadlin led Israel’s Military Intelligence in 2007, when Israel destroyed a facility unknown to the world. The White House had declined to assist in that strike. Yadlin has observed historical shifts following Israel’s unilateral execution of daring operations, such as the exploding pagers that eliminated most of the senior commanders of Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
In 2008, after determining that Israeli F-16s were incapable of reaching Iran’s nuclear sites, Yadlin instructed Mossad to devise an alternative method to neutralize Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts at Natanz. Two years subsequent, Israeli cyber operatives deployed Stuxnet, a malevolent computer worm that caused thousands of centrifuges at Natanz to malfunction, thereby impeding Iran’s nuclear enrichment progress.
However, the decision regarding a strike on Fordow, considered the pivotal and central component of Iran’s nuclear program, carries a different weight, with Israel favoring the use of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
“Anyone wishing for the war to conclude swiftly must find a method to address Fordow,” Yadlin asserted. “While some believe an attack on Fordow would escalate the conflict, I contend it could instead de-escalate and ultimately terminate it.”
Furthermore, such an action could act as a deterrent to China, demonstrating the unique power and capability of the U.S. military.
An alternative strategy involves disrupting the power supply to Fordow. Deprived of electricity, the centrifuges responsible for uranium enrichment could become irreversibly incapacitated.
When questioned by Fox’s Bret Baier in an exclusive interview last Sunday about Israel’s ability to neutralize Fordow without American B-2 bombers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, “We also possess a number of startups and several undisclosed advantages. I do not believe it is appropriate to elaborate further.”