The Sunday Times occasionally publishes material that few other newspapers dare to print. Its latest controversial article is headlined, "Revealed: Israel Plans Nuclear Strike on Iran" (Jan. 7, 2007). The first paragraph reads: "Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran 's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons."

Such an attack, if it happens, does have historical precedent. In 1981 Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor.

However, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev formally denied the Sunday Times report (The Jewish Chronicle, Jan. 12, 2007). Yet the same article quoted Professor Uzi Arad, founding director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy, as saying that Iranian nuclear ambitions were "the single most vital item on Israel 's agenda." He further stated that Israel had to "think the unthinkable and take all the necessary measures so that if Iran did have nuclear weapons, it would not think
of using them."

The Spectator weekly magazine actually preceded The Sunday Times with a cover article titled "The Nuclear Option: Israel Can Stop Iran" (Jan. 6, 2007). It predicted a probable nuclear attack, possibly fairly early this year.

The author, Douglas Davis, stated that he received information from a senior Israeli source who said: "We are the product of the Holocaust in Europe and we will do everything—and I mean everything—to prevent another holocaust recurring in Israel . If the Americans do not act, then we will act. And that moment might be closer than people dare to imagine." (Sources: The Sunday Times, The Jewish Chronicle, The Spectator [all London].)