Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi warned yesterday that Israel will have to decide whether to strike the Iranian nuclear program or come to terms with a nuclearized Iran. “The United States will never attack the nuclear facilities in Iran. Israel must decide whether it will accept a nuclear Iran. Israel will be forced to act independently to remove this danger,” said Hanegbi in an interview with the public broadcaster Kan.

"It’s possible that in the future there will be no choice [but to attack Iran militarily]. I hope that when our leadership is met with this dilemma, it won’t accept [a nuclearized Iran],” Hanegbi said.

Hanegbi had issued a similar warning Jan. 13 when he said that “if the United States government rejoins the nuclear deal — and that seems to be the stated policy as of now — the practical result will be that Israel will again be alone against Iran, which by the end of the deal will have received a green light from the world, including the United States, to continue with its nuclear weapons program.”

Hanegbi was not the only senior Likud minister to warn of the need to stop Iranian advancement toward a nuclear bomb. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said yesterday that "in terms of enrichment, they [the Iranians] are in a situation of breaking out in around half a year if they do everything required. As for nuclear weaponry, the range is around one or two years."